- Argentina secure knockout spot
Lionel Messi moved to the top of the men’s World Cup scoring charts, finding the net twice as Argentina beat Austria 2-0 in Group J to reach the last 32 with time to spare.
The 38-year-old captain scored in the 38th and 95th minutes in Dallas, taking his World Cup total to 18 goals. That haul lifts him above Marta’s overall benchmark of 17, which spans both the men’s and women’s tournaments. Messi also had an early penalty attempt go wrong in the opening minutes.
“I’m very happy with the win,” Messi said after the match. “It was a hugely important victory, a tough one, and one we worked hard for. It gives us calm for what’s coming.”
Argentina head into the next round with six points from their first two Group J games, leaving one match still to be played. Messi, who turns 39 tomorrow, has now scored five times at this tournament across two appearances.
Messi’s breakthrough came when he calmly finished Facundo Medina’s low delivery after a build-up that involved Thiago Almada. The goal moved him past Germany great Miroslav Klose as the outright leading scorer in men’s World Cup history. Messi had matched Klose’s mark with a hat-trick against Algeria last Tuesday.
His second strike in stoppage time sealed the win, as he reacted to a rebound after Julian Alvarez’s first effort was kept out by Alexander Schlager. That late finish also put Messi beyond Marta’s all-time record.
“The truth is that the way it turned out today was spectacular,” Messi said. “I had the penalty that could have increased the lead, but I’m happy with the result and with the team’s work.”
The main moment of disappointment arrived in the eighth minute when Messi sent a penalty wide. After referee Amin Omar checked the pitchside monitor, the spot-kick was awarded for a foul on Lautaro Martinez committed by Stefan Posch and Xaver Schlager. It was the third World Cup penalty miss of Messi’s career, after earlier failures against Iceland at Russia 2018 and Poland at Qatar 2022.
David Alaba tested Messi twice in the first half, first clearing the ball away as Messi shaped to shoot and then blocking a strike that looked set to find the target. However, Alaba was unable to stop the opener.
Austria improved after the break and had moments to trouble Argentina, with Emi Martinez required to parry a set-piece from Marcel Sabitzer. Michael Gregoritsch also sent a late chance over the bar, but Ralf Rangnick’s team struggled to generate sustained pressure and rarely looked like overturning the deficit.
Messi nearly gave Argentina extra breathing room when substitute Nico Gonzalez nodded a left-wing corner across the face of goal. The record-breaking second then arrived in the closing seconds, scored by the captain himself. When asked to name a favourite goal and share his feelings on the historic night, Messi offered a typically low-key response: “I’m very tired.”
