π¦π· Lionel Messi delivered another historic performance on Monday, scoring twice to lead Argentina past Austria and into the knockout stage of the World Cup.
The Argentine captain opened the scoring in the 38th minute, calmly finishing past Austria goalkeeper Alexander Schlager after earlier missing a penalty that would have set a new record.
He later sealed the victory deep into stoppage time, taking his total to 18 World Cup goals β surpassing the previous record of 16 held by Miroslav Klose.
Despite the early setback from the missed penalty, Messi responded with composure and brilliance, guiding Argentina to a comfortable 2β0 win that guarantees progression to the last 32.
βIβm very happy with the victory,β Messi said. βIt was hugely important, tough, and hard-fought.β
