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Since last night, Miroslav Klose has been joined by another at the top of the World Cup's all-time top scorers list: Lionel Messi. The 38-year-old scored three times in Argentina's 3-0 win over Algeria, taking his World Cup tally to 16 from 14. But after the match, Messi mainly wanted to talk about the team's performance. "Winning the first match is important. The first match is never easy in the World Cup. We struggled in the first half, but luckily we got through it and made the difference in the second half," he said. However, Messi also played an important role in leading the team by scoring 1-0 in the first half. He was visibly emotional after scoring this goal. "I cried after scoring the first goal, yes... but it was for a completely different reason, it had nothing to do with football," he said. Messi was also asked in the interview whether he pays attention to statistics, such as touching Klose's goalscoring record, to which he said, "To be honest, no. Of course being there is one thing, it's an honor. Because it means a lot. Like Klose, Ronaldo is there. Mbappe, who scored two goals today, is also there. But I think they do not indicate much. It is just a statistic and nothing more. It's an honor to compete for the record, but it doesn't mean anything to be honest." His next reasoning is quite startling: "For me Ronaldo is one of the best players of all time and he's not the first. So for me it's just a statistic." From the German's point of view, is he simply comparing Klose's record to that of the greatest player of all time? --- ## Related Articles 1. [Genießender Messi geht in Tränen nach erster Tor und Egalisierung des WM-Rekords](https://mannschaftgoal.com/de/news/genieender-messi-geht-in-tranen-nach-erster-tor-und-egalisierung-des-wm-rekords) 2. [«Possiblymente, ele é o melhor da história do futebol». Gasilin sobre Messi](https://quinasgoal.com/noticias/possiblemente-ele-e-o-melhor-da-historia-do-futebol-gasilin-sobre-messi)

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