Argentina 2-0 Austria, World Cup 2026: Lionel Messi makes history (again) as Albiceleste seal Round of 32 spot

Reigning world champions Argentina have guaranteed safe passage through to the knockout rounds of World Cup 2026 thanks to a hard-fought 2-0 win against Austrlia in Dallas on Monday. The Albiceleste kept another clean sheet and looked solid all game, and Lionel Messi made history again as he scored his 17th and 18th goals to take sole possession of first place on the list of all-time World Cup goalscorers.

Reactions & Observations

• Messi was once again, two days before his 39th birthday, the best player on the pitch by far, and despite missing an early penalty and wasting two other good chances there was never any doubt about his ability to break Klose’s record. The goal that did it was a classic Messi finish from his favorite spot just inside the box on the left side, and the second was outrageous as he outworked the entire Austrian defense to find the back of the net in added time.

• The rest of the team has a very clear goal of working their socks off to make sure Messi can get to the best possible positions to be decisive, and the midfield trio of Rodrigo De Paul, Alexis Mac Allister and Enzo Fernández gave their all with and without the ball.

• Thiago Almada and Lautaro Martínez also deserve honorable mentions for their workrate out of possession and big contributions in attack, including an outstanding dummy by Almada in the build-up to Messi’s record-breaking first goal.

• Cristian Romero’s possible knee injury might be a reason for concern and should be monitored in the next few days, but Argentina will now be able to rest many of their key starters in the group finale against Jordan, the weakest team in the group, and Romero will likely be back for the knockout rounds.

• But the story can only be about Messi, who is clearly enjoying the first World Cup of his career where he has absolutely no pressure to win and can just go out and play. He has scored all five of Argentina’s goals and could have scored seven or eight already, and his control of the game at his age is simply astounding. How lucky are we to have been alive to witness the Lionel Messi Era.