Argentina won for the second time in this FIFA World Cup. And once again with Lionel Messi as the star.
The 38-year-old scored both goals in the 2-0 win over Austria, securing the current champions’ place in the knockout stage.
That means all five of Argentina’s goals in this World Cup have come from the feet of their No. 10.
See the highlights of Argentina vs. Austria below:
Nine minutes into the match, before opening the scoring, Messi even missed a penalty, sending the ball wide.
But still in the first half, he made up for the mistake, firing home from the edge of the box to make it 1-0 and become the top scorer in World Cup history.
The second came in stoppage time in the second half, on a counterattack that killed off the match.
The Argentine had entered the match level with Germany’s Miroslav Klose, but now stands alone at the top of the ranking with 18 goals.
Austria made things difficult throughout the game, but hardly forced goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez into making any good saves.
The Europeans remain on three points in the table after beating Jordan in their opening match.
More milestones for Messi
The records Messi reached this Monday went beyond becoming the World Cup’s all-time top scorer.
He became only the third player to score in six consecutive matches in the tournament, after France’s Just Fontaine and Brazil’s Jairzinho.
Not everything was cause for celebration, however. The missed penalty also made him the player with the most penalties missed in World Cup history.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.
