ARLINGTON (Texas): Argentina booked their place in the World Cup knockout stage on Monday as Lionel Messi recovered from an early penalty miss to score a record-breaking double in a 2-0 win over Austria in Group ‘J’.

The player pounced late in the first half with a left-footed finish after neat build-up play. The goal added to his hat-trick in Argentina’s opening match to make it 17 in total at the World Cup.

The 38-year-old then sea­l­ed the match deep in injury time as he outfoxed four defenders who lined up to keep the ball out.

It should have been even better for Messi, who missed a penalty early on, stunning a fiercely pro-Argentina 70,649 crowd. In the 19th minute Messi had a clear sniff at goal, only for David Alaba to steal the ball off his toes as he danced through on goal.

And then the came the big moment, Messi sweeping in on 38 minutes after being set up by Facundo Medina, with Thiago Almada cleverly letting the ball run through his legs to leave Argentina’s talisman all on his own and the goal gaping.

Messi had equalled Miroslav Klose’s all-time mark of 16 World Cup goals when hitting a hat-trick in a 3-0 win over Algeria in the holders’ opening game.

Lionel Scaloni’s side failed to build on their lead, and the second half drifted, neither side creating much.

If anything, Austria threatened slightly more, but Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was only once seriously troubled. And then up popped Messi to have the last word at the death.

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2026