Argentina booked their berth in the FIFA World Cup knockout phase with a game to spare after defeating Austria 2–0 on Monday night, powered by a historic performance from captain Lionel Messi.
The talismanic forward opened the scoring in the 38th minute, breaking the deadlock to give Argentina a crucial lead. With that strike, Messi officially cemented his legacy as the highest goalscorer in World Cup history, netting his 17th tournament goal. The historic feat saw him surpass Germany’s Miroslav Klose, who previously held the record with 16 goals.
Messi doubled Argentina's advantage deep into stoppage time, finding the back of the net in the fifth minute of injury time to seal the 2–0 victory. Austria put up a resilient fight but struggled to breach the Argentine defense, failing to get on the scoresheet.
This marks Argentina’s second consecutive dominant victory in the tournament, following a 3–0 thrashing of Algeria in their opening match—where Messi spectacularly scored a hat-trick.
While Argentina celebrates early qualification to the Round of 32, Austria's fate hangs in the balance. Having defeated Jordan 3–1 in their tournament opener, Austria must now wait for the final group-stage fixture to secure their own ticket to the knockout phase.
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