Miroslav Klose hailed Lionel Messi as the greatest of all time after surpassing the World Cup goal record
Miroslav Klose has praised Lionel Messi, calling him the best player ever after the Argentinian overtook his FIFA World Cup goalscoring record.
Lionel Messi rewrote FIFA World Cup history when he surpassed Miroslav Klose's record of 16 goals after a breathtaking game against Austria, in which he scored two new goals. Despite a penalty miss, Messi climbed to a total of 18 goals and was named the all-time top scorer of the prestigious tournament.
In an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, Klose unequivocally poured out his admiration for Messi: "For me, Lionel Messi is the best football player of all time! Congratulations, champion!" According to Klose, he is not worried that his record has been surpassed. "No problem, the record will come and go, and Messi deserves it. I've been a fan of his for a long time. He's a genius," added the former Germany striker who was named champion in 2014.
<figure style="margin:2rem 0;overflow:hidden;border:1px solid #e2e2e2;background:#f9f9f9"><img src="https://tmw-storage-auto.tcccdn.com/storage/tuttomercatoweb.com/img_notizie/thumb3/89/898c6251ecf6aa4949b4237352daef8e-10304-oooz0000.jpeg" alt="Image" style="width:100%;height:auto;object-fit:contain" loading="lazy" /></figure>The article also confirmed that Kylian Mbappé is set to make another attempt at this mark after he scored 14 goals in 15 matches before the age of 28. The likes of Harry Kane (10 goals) and Cristiano Ronaldo (8 goals) are still far behind, but they will continue to line up with the elite scorers of the world's most prestigious tournament.
Messi's clinching of the new world record was a historic moment, accompanied by praise from the former title holder himself.
