Argentina 2-0 Austria: Lionel Messi Breaks World Cup Goalscoring Record as Holders Top Group J

Lionel Messi became the World Cup’s record goalscorer with 18 goals, inspiring defending champions Argentina to victory over Austria and cementing their place as Group J winners and a spot in the Round of 32.

Messi made history by becoming the all-time leading goalscorer in FIFA World Cup history with 18 goals, finally surpassing Germany’s Miroslav Klose, who scored 16. Moreover, Messi, still level with Diego Maradona on eight World Cup assists, now needs just one more to equal the all-time assist record held by Brazil’s Didi, who registered nine assists during Brazil’s back-to-back World Cup triumphs in 1958 and 1962. Messi will be hoping to emulate that legendary Brazil side and help Argentina become the first nation since Brazil in 1962 to successfully defend the World Cup following their triumph in Qatar in 2022.

Messi missed an early penalty for Argentina after a controversial VAR review following Stefan Posch’s foul on Lautaro Martínez, firing wide with an uncharacteristically poor effort. Surprisingly, Messi has now scored only four of his seven World Cup penalties (excluding shootouts), but the talismanic captain more than redeemed himself with a brace against Austria.

Austria inevitably could not keep Messi quiet for long. His breakthrough eventually arrived in the 38th minute when he scored his 17th World Cup goal after Facundo Medina smartly pulled the ball back into the area. Thiago Almada played a key role in the move, laying the ball out to Medina on the left-hand side before intelligently allowing the return pass to run through his legs for Messi.

Finding himself in acres of space on the edge of the penalty area in his free-roaming role, Messi calmly finished beyond Austria goalkeeper Alexander Schlager to put Argentina 1-0 ahead.

Austria enjoyed some promising spells during the first half, putting Argentina under pressure and remaining organised defensively through experienced players such as Konrad Laimer (Bayern Munich), David Alaba (Real Madrid) and Kevin Danso (Tottenham Hotspur). However, going forward, Austria lacked genuine quality and creativity, with most of their attacking threat limited to wasteful set-pieces.

In the second half, Argentina continued to dominate possession but created relatively few clear opportunities. Austria relied heavily on Marcel Sabitzer, who produced their best chance from a free-kick comfortably saved by Emiliano Martínez. Striker Michael Gregoritsch was largely anonymous, while veteran Marko Arnautović came off the bench late on but had little time to influence proceedings.

Argentina’s first corner of the match did not arrive until the 74th minute. Messi delivered an excellent cross that substitute Nico González glanced just wide of the far post. Later in the half, González found himself through on goal, but Kevin Danso recovered brilliantly to make a crucial block.

Deep into stoppage time, Messi capped another outstanding individual performance with his second goal of the evening, finishing from a tight angle after Julián Álvarez’s initial effort had been saved by Schlager.

Argentina finish the group stage with a match against Jordan on Sunday, where Messi will undoubtedly look to add to his remarkable tally of goals. Austria, meanwhile, face Algeria in what is set to be a decisive battle for second place in Group J.