By MAURA CAREY, 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 Mbappé and Norway’s Erling Haaland at seven goals each. Mbappé 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 Mbappé on the all-time World Cup goal leaderboard.
Messi finished second in the Golden Boot race behind Mbappé in 2022 with seven goals while leading Argentina to the title. He tied for third with four goals in 2014.