{"id":2152,"date":"2026-06-23T15:30:56","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T12:30:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/messi-fires-twice-as-argentina-beat-austria-to-reach-world-cup-knockouts\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T15:30:56","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T12:30:56","slug":"messi-fires-twice-as-argentina-beat-austria-to-reach-world-cup-knockouts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/messi-fires-twice-as-argentina-beat-austria-to-reach-world-cup-knockouts\/","title":{"rendered":"Messi Fires Twice as Argentina Beat Austria to Reach World Cup Knockouts"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>Argentina secure knockout spot<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Lionel Messi moved to the top of the men\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019s overall benchmark of 17, which spans both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s tournaments. Messi also had an early penalty attempt go wrong in the opening minutes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m very happy with the win,\u201d Messi said after the match. \u201cIt was a hugely important victory, a tough one, and one we worked hard for. It gives us calm for what\u2019s coming.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Messi\u2019s breakthrough came when he calmly finished Facundo Medina\u2019s 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\u2019s World Cup history. Messi had matched Klose\u2019s mark with a hat-trick against Algeria last Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>His second strike in stoppage time sealed the win, as he reacted to a rebound after Julian Alvarez\u2019s first effort was kept out by Alexander Schlager. That late finish also put Messi beyond Marta\u2019s all-time record.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe truth is that the way it turned out today was spectacular,\u201d Messi said. \u201cI had the penalty that could have increased the lead, but I\u2019m happy with the result and with the team\u2019s work.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019s career, after earlier failures against Iceland at Russia 2018 and Poland at Qatar 2022.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019s team struggled to generate sustained pressure and rarely looked like overturning the deficit.<\/p>\n<p>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: \u201cI\u2019m very tired.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Argentina secure knockout spot Lionel Messi moved to the top of the men\u2019s 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 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2151,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"Messi Scores Twice as Argentina Beat Austria 2-0 to Qualify","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Lionel Messi struck twice as Argentina beat Austria 2-0, clinching a World Cup knockout berth and boosting his record-breaking goa","mma_seo_breadcrumb_text":"","mma_seo_breadcrumb_url":"","mma_seo_breadcrumb_hide_ui":"","mma_seo_breadcrumb_labels":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Messi Scores Twice as Argentina Beat Austria 2-0 to 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