Lionel Messi rewrote the World Cup record books in Dallas, scoring twice as Argentina beat Austria 2-0 in Group J to seal the holders’ spot in the last 32.
The Inter Miami playmaker struck in the 38th and 95th minutes to reach 18 World Cup goals, pushing Argentina to a second straight victory and six points — even after he missed an early penalty.
Messi’s opener carried him beyond Germany’s Miroslav Klose to become the leading scorer in men’s World Cup history. His late second then took him past Marta’s 17-goal mark from the women’s tournament, which had stood as the overall World Cup record.
With his 39th birthday coming on Wednesday, Messi showed no hint of easing up, taking his tally at the finals to four and five goals in two matches so far.
Yet the night began with a familiar blemish from 12 yards. In the eighth minute, Messi had the chance to move clear of Klose’s benchmark — a total he had equalled with a hat-trick against Algeria last Tuesday — but dragged his penalty wide.
The spot-kick followed a foul on Lautaro Martinez, who was chopped down as he surged into the box by a combination of Stefan Posch and Xaver Schlager. Referee Amin Omar went to the pitchside monitor before pointing to the spot, only for Messi to waste the opportunity.
It marked the third World Cup penalty miss of Messi’s career, after earlier failures against Iceland in Russia in 2018 and against Poland four years later.
Austria’s David Alaba then produced two timely interventions to keep Messi at bay, first nudging the ball toward goalkeeper Alexander Schlager as the forward prepared to shoot and later getting in the way of a goal-bound effort. Still, Argentina’s pressure eventually told.
Thiago Almada crafted the breakthrough, driving at the edge of the area before slipping the ball left to Facundo Medina. When Almada let the return pass run through his legs, Messi arrived unmarked and calmly guided his finish home.
Austria searched for a response after the break. Emi Martinez had to be alert to push Marcel Sabitzer’s set-piece to safety after Cristian Romero conceded a needless free kick on the edge of the area as Ralf Rangnick’s side looked for an early equaliser.
Michael Gregoritsch later looped a header well over the bar, emblematic of a performance in which Austria struggled to find the quality in the final third to truly test the champions.
Messi nearly turned provider to hand Argentina breathing space, but substitute Nico Gonzalez glanced a left-wing corner across the face of goal soon after the hydration break.
The second goal finally arrived just moments before the final whistle — and again it was Messi.
Julian Alvarez’s first effort was saved by Schlager, but Argentina recycled the rebound to Messi. After his initial shot was blocked, he reacted quickest to drill a low finish from six yards out, sealing the points and punctuating a record-setting night.
