07/07/26 12:56:00
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07/07 12:54 CDT Lionel Messi scores his eighth goal of this year's World Cup,
takes lead in Golden Boot race
Lionel Messi scores his eighth goal of this year's World Cup, takes lead in
Golden Boot race
By MAURA CAREY
AP Sports Writer
ATLANTA (AP) --- Lionel Messi scored his eighth goal of this year's World Cup
on Tuesday against Egypt, extending his scoring streak to nine consecutive
games for Argentina and moving to the top of a tight Golden Boot race.
The 21st goal of Messi's World Cup career came in the 83rd minute off an assist
from Gonzalo Montiel, leveling the game at 2-2 and making up for a saved
penalty kick in the 19th minute. Messi's goal came only minutes after assisting
on Argentina's first score of the game --- a header from Cristian Romero in the
79th minute.
Yasser Ibrahim put Egypt ahead in the 15th minute with a header. Mustafa Zico
scored Egypt's second goal in the 67th minute off an assist from Haissem Hassan.
Messi has now scored in a record nine consecutive World Cup matches dating back
to Argentina's title run in 2022. Tuesday's goal marked his 13th in that
nine-game span.
In the race for his first Golden Boot, Messi entered Tuesday's match even with
France's Kylian Mbapp and Norway's Erling Haaland at seven goals each. Mbapp
held the tiebreaker with two assists. England's Harry Kane is also in the
running with six goals.
The goal also gave Messi a two-goal lead over Mbapp on the all-time World Cup
goal leaderboard.
Messi finished second in the Golden Boot race behind Mbapp in 2022 with seven
goals while leading Argentina to the title. He tied for third with four goals
in 2014.
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