Lionel Messi had another outstanding performance, scoring two goals and shattering numerous records to lead defending champions Argentina to a 2-0 victory over Austria in a Group J encounter and advance to the knock-out stages of the FIFA World Cup 2026 at the Dallas Stadium in Dallas on Monday.
Messi set a record by scoring his 17th and 18th World Cup goals, making him the tournament’s all-time leading scorer.
Just two days before his 39th birthday, the Argentine talisman overcame an early first-half penalty miss to give his team the lead in the 38th minute, then doubled it seconds before the end of the game to secure a memorable victory for the reigning champions.
Argentina qualified for the round of 32 after winning their second match in Group J. If Jordan don’t defeat Algeria later today, they’ll be declared group winners.
As he scored his first goal of the day in the 38th minute, setting the record for the most individual goals scored by any player in the history of the event, Messi took the day. Messi scored his fourth goal in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, bringing his total to 17.
In addition to surpassing the tournament’s scoring record, Messi became the third player, after Just Fontaine of France and Jairzinho of Brazil, to score in six straight World Cup matches. Messi has scored his fourth goal of the competition and 17th World Cup goal. Toward the conclusion of the game, he scored his fifth goal for the 2026 edition.
Germany’s Miroslav Klose’s previous record of 16 goals was surpassed by Messi. Messi is now in the lead with 17 goals, followed by Klose with 16 goals and Ronaldo (Brazil) with 15 goals. With 14 goals, Germany’s Gerd Müller and France’s Kylian Mbappe are ranked second and third, respectively.
After that, he increased his record with an opportune goal in the fifth minute of added time (90+5) to put Argentina ahead 2-0.
Messi scored a magnificent goal to guide Argentina, the defending champions, to a fantastic recovery after overcoming several hard obstacles from Austria. He seized the ball and threw it to Thiago Almada. Messi received a pass from Almada and sent it back to him. Messi then took a strong shot that defeated Austria’s Alexander Schlager. He missed a penalty and could have broken the record a few minutes sooner.
Argentina was leading Austria 1-0 at halftime in the game held in Dallas’s Dallas Stadium.
Argentina quickly made a comeback and adopted an offensive playing approach. Messi’s penalty miss caused them to lose control of the game after they dominated the first few minutes but were unable to take the lead.
Austria controlled the following few minutes of play, pressing high and stopping the opponent’s build-up to take charge of the game. They continued the game even for the next 15 minutes by playing fiercely. They were totally useless, though, because they were unable to score with their superiority.
After that, Messi started a play in the midfield, giving Argentina back the lead. To establish a 1-0 lead for Argentina and break the record for the most individual goals scored by a player, he connected effectively with Thiago Almada to produce a good chance before converting it.