Argentina defeated Austria 2-0 in the second round of Group J at the 2026 World Cup. The match at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, ended with a score of 2-0. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
Both goals were scored by Lionel Messi. The Argentina captain opened the scoring in the 38th minute, becoming the sole all-time top scorer in World Cup history, surpassing Miroslav Klose. In stoppage time, he scored a brace, bringing his World Cup tally to 18 goals.
The match started poorly for Messi. In the 9th minute, Argentina were awarded a penalty after a VAR review, but the forward missed the spot kick. He tried to deceive Alexander Schlager but shot wide.
After that, Austria became bolder in attack and forced Argentina to play cautiously. Ralf Rangnick's team pressed high, preventing the opponent from freely developing attacks through the center and kept the score level for a long time.
The first half was decided in the 38th minute. Facundo Medina joined the attack and passed to Messi, who scored with a first-time shot. This goal put Argentina ahead and allowed Messi to break Klose's historic record.
In the second half, Austria tried to equalize. One of the most dangerous moments came from Marcel Sabitzer's free kick, but Emiliano Martinez saved Argentina. Later, Michael Gregorich headed the ball from a cross but sent it over the bar.
After the break, Argentina played more pragmatically and tried not to open up spaces. Lionel Scaloni refreshed the attack with Julian Alvarez and Nicolas Gonzalez, and was forced to bring on Nicolas Otamendi for Cristian Romero in defense.
In the 90+5th minute, Messi scored his second goal to seal the win. He started the attack with a pass to Alvarez on the left. The forward went one-on-one but failed to beat the goalkeeper. The ball rebounded to Leandro Paredes, who did not shoot and rolled it to Messi on the right. The Argentine's first shot was blocked by Xaver Zaywald, but on the second attempt, Messi sent the ball into the net – 2-0.
Argentina secured the victory and collected six points after two rounds. Austria remained on three points. In the final group match, Argentina will face Jordan, while Austria will meet Algeria.
In the other Group J match, Jordan will play against Algeria. Also tonight, two matches in Group I will take place: France vs. Iraq and Norway vs. Senegal.