Speaking to German club Nuremberg's internal media, coach Miroslav Klose revealed that Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni connected him with Messi on 17/6.

"Scaloni was my teammate at Lazio, and we have stayed in touch. He arranged the call between Messi and me after Messi equaled my scoring record. That touched me", Klose said.

Klose and Messi had previously faced each other when Klose played for Werder Bremen and Messi for Barcelona.

"We always respected each other whenever we played against one another, but that was the first time we spoke for a longer period. Messi said he would send me a signed Argentina national team jersey", Klose recounted.

Miroslav Klose and Messi during a match. Photo: ©imago sportfotodienst

On 23/6, after Messi scored his 17th goal against Austria, breaking Klose's World Cup scoring record, the former German striker sent his congratulations. "All records will eventually be broken. I am happy that Messi is the one who achieved it. For me, he is the greatest player of all time", Klose stated.

Messi equaled Klose's 16-goal record with a hat-trick against Algeria in the opening match of the 2026 World Cup on 17/6, before scoring a brace against Austria on 23/6 to claim the record outright. Following Argentina's victory over Egypt in the round of 16 on 7/7, the captain increased his total World Cup goals to 21. He currently leads the Golden Boot race with 8 goals.

Klose previously held the record for most goals in World Cup history with 16 goals in 24 matches across four tournaments (2002-2014). He established this record in 2014, surpassing Ronaldo Nazario's 15 goals.

Currently, Kylian Mbappe ranks second on the list with 19 goals. Harry Kane has 14 goals, matching the record of former German striker Gerd Muller.

Nhat Minh (According to Bundesliga, Yahoo)