Xinhua News Agency, Dallas, USA, June 22nd — (Reporter Xiao Shiyao) In the second round of Group J of the World Cup between the USA, Canada, and Mexico on the 22nd, Argentina defeated Austria 2-0, securing their second consecutive victory and qualifying early from the group stage. Messi scored one goal in each half, bringing his total World Cup goals to 18, topping the all-time World Cup scorer list.

In the first match of this World Cup, Messi completed a hat-trick, helping Argentina beat Algeria 3-0. His total World Cup goals reached 16, tying the record held by German legend Klose. Austria defeated Jordan 3-1 in the first round.

At the start of this match, Messi almost broke the record. In the sixth minute, Lautaro Martínez was brought down by a defender inside the penalty area after dribbling, and the referee awarded a penalty after VAR review. However, Messi hesitated slightly before taking the penalty, which was ultimately slightly off target.

It is worth mentioning that this missed penalty also created an unusual record for Messi — outside of penalty shootouts, he has taken 7 penalties in the World Cup and missed 3, making him the player with the most missed penalties in World Cup history.

However, the missed penalty did not affect Messi’s form. In the 19th and 32nd minutes, he had two good scoring opportunities inside the penalty area, but one was bravely saved by Austria’s goalkeeper Schlager, and the other was blocked by defender Alaba.

The 70,649 spectators on site did not wait long. In the 38th minute, Quandro Medina delivered a low cross from the left, and Thiago Almada cleverly missed the ball, allowing Messi to follow up and push the ball into the far corner to score.

Two days before his 39th birthday, Messi not only broke the record for total World Cup goals with this goal but also became the third player, after France’s Fontaine and Brazil’s Jairzinho, to score in six consecutive World Cup matches.

The rest of the match was uneventful, with Austria unable to create significant scoring chances, and Argentina controlling the pace of the game. Until injury time in the second half, Argentina launched a quick counterattack. Messi’s first shot in the penalty area was blocked, but he followed up with a rebound to make the score 2-0.

After this round, Argentina’s two consecutive wins earned them 6 points and early qualification. Messi also leads the top scorer list of this World Cup with 5 goals.

On the 27th, in the third round of the group stage, Argentina will face Jordan, and Austria will play against Algeria. (End)