Argentina managed to defeat Austria in a closely contested match. Thanks to Lionel Messi's record-breaking two goals, they secured a 2-0 victory, earning a spot in the Round of 32 of the 2026 World Cup. Even though the match was quite balanced for both sides, Argentina managed to defeat Austria 2-0 to become the leaders of Group J of the 2026 World Cup. In the middle of a match that seemed quite closed, Lionel Messi shined with an important brace, which led him to break the all-time scoring record in World Cup history. However, Lionel Scaloni’s team struggled greatly to find balance, which would have been impossible without the 38-year-old star. Despite the defeat, Austria managed to establish as a highly competitive team. Under Ralf Rangnick, they were able to apply constant pressure on Argentina. As a result, they controlled large portions of the match, forcing their opponent to sit deep in their own area. However, they had a disastrous night offensively, as they finished with only one shot on target throughout the entire match, completely limiting their chances of securing a victory. Unlike the match against Algeria, Lionel Messi was more tightly marked than usual. Despite this, he managed to shine by distributing play. Although he missed a penalty, he recovered mentally and scored the opening goal of the match. After receiving the ball in midfield, Messi carried it forward, finding Thiago Almada on the wing and passing the ball to him. He returned the ball to the 38-year-old star, who finished first time. Argentina also failed to dominate Austria in the second half. However, they shined on the counterattack. After a through ball from Leandro Paredes, Messi received the ball while running into space and then played a pass to Julián Álvarez, who missed a crucial one-on-one chance. However, Paredes collected the rebound and passed it to the 38-year-old star, who finished to score his brace and reach 18 goals in the tournament, becoming the all-time leading scorer.