Argentina Secure Knockout Berth as Messi Makes History

Lionel Messi went past Miroslav Klose’s World Cup scoring record and once again proved to be the key player for Argentina. The defending champions beat Austria 2-0 in the latest World Cup clash, which also booked their place in the upcoming knockout stages of the mega event.

Argentina started the game quickly by attacking the Austrian goalpost repeatedly. In the 4th minute, they were not given a penalty when Lisandro Martínez was brought down by Stefan Posch, but VAR later stepped in and the decision was changed to a spot-kick.

Messi had the chance to put Argentina ahead, but he surprisingly sent his penalty wide. That moment gave Austria a boost, and they started pushing harder, with Marcel Sabitzer and David Alaba working strongly in midfield.

By the time of the first hydration break, Austria were on top in terms of play, even though they did not really trouble Argentina’s goal. Konrad Laimer was also very active, trying to take on his man four times, but Argentina slowly started to get back into the match.

And it was Lionel Messi who made the breakthrough. He scored his record 17th World Cup goal, calmly side-footing Facundo Medina’s low cross into the net.

Austria came out stronger after the break and began the second half on the attack. Their tougher approach led to many stoppages, with several free-kicks breaking up the flow of the game. While this slowed Argentina down, it also stopped Austria from building any real rhythm.

In the 72nd minute, Argentina almost scored from their first corner, taken by Messi, but Nico González’s strong free header went just wide.

Kevin Danso later stopped a late attempt from Nico González, while at the other end, substitute Marko Arnautovic was kept quiet and barely got any space as Argentina held on. Messi then scored his second goal in stoppage time, firing the ball home after a scramble inside the box.

With this win, Argentina stretched their unbeaten run at the World Cup to eight matches and also picked up their ninth straight victory. Austria, on the other hand, have now lost just two of their last 13 games in all competitions.