Argentina 2-0 Austria: FIFA World Cup 2026 the all-time leading goalscorer at the World Cup as Argentina beat Austria 2-0 in Dallas, confirming his side’s place in the knockouts.
After an unfathomable missed penalty early on, Messi latched onto a Thiago Almada cutback to make tournament history with a first time finish after half-an-hour.
Ralf Rangnick’s men struggled for quality in the second half before a stoppage-time break saw Messi have an effort blocked, before he tucked home his 18th in tournament history
Austria remain second in the group after Monday’s defeat and their fate will be decided in a crunch MD3 clash against Algeria.
Having initially been unmoved, referee Amin Omar opted to award a spot-kick after being called to the monitor by VAR. Messi, however, dragged a casual ninth-minute penalty wide of Alexander Schlager’s left post, prompting huge celebrations from the Austria goalkeeper.