Argentina 2-0 Austria — World Cup

World Cup
Argentina
2
Final
0
Austria
Full time

Lionel Messi missed an early penalty, then rewrote World Cup history anyway.

The Argentina captain overcame an early penalty miss to score twice against Austria, becoming the sole highest goalscorer in World Cup history.

Lionel Messi is now the king of World Cup goalscorers. It did not start well at . Just nine minutes in, Messi missed a penalty. But the legend recovered. In the 38th minute, defender set up Messi for the historic opener. That goal broke 's all-time record of 16 World Cup goals. 's Austria pushed hard with their aggressive high press. worked tirelessly to disrupt Argentina's midfield. Yet, and the Austrian defense could not hold Messi back forever. Deep in stoppage time, Messi struck again to seal the 2-0 win. Argentina is through to the .

— and get this
By scoring twice against Austria, Lionel Messi reached 18 World Cup goals to stand alone as the tournament's all-time top scorer, surpassing Germany's .
This 2-0 victory marks the first-ever competitive meeting between Argentina and Austria after just two friendly matches in 1980 and 1990.
Austria's defeat means they have still never beaten Argentina, with their all-time head-to-head record now standing at two losses and one draw.