DALLAS: Defending champions Argentina moved into the next round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup after a thrilling 2-0 win over Austria. The hero of the night was once again Lionel Messi, who broke the all-time World Cup scoring record in front of a packed stadium in Dallas, Texas.
The game started with shock and drama. Just eight minutes into the match, Argentina was given a penalty kick after a foul. Messi stepped up to take it, but he shocked fans around the world by kicking the ball wide of the post.
However, you can never keep a champion down for long. In the 38th minute, Messi made up for his mistake. He received a clever pass from teammate Thiago Almada and cleanly swept the ball into the bottom corner of the net. With that goal, Messi scored his 17th career World Cup goal, breaking the world record to become the highest scorer in World Cup history.
Austria fought back hard in the second half, trying their best to equalise and trouble the champions. But deep into injury time, Argentina launched a lightning-fast counter-attack. Messi was in the right place at the right time to tap in a rebound, scoring his second goal of the match and sealing the 2-0 victory.
With two wins in a row, Argentina has officially qualified for the knockout stage, and Messi has proven once again why he is considered the greatest of all time
