Mercurial Messi alone at the summit as Argentina beat Austria to seal spot in knockouts

A fast start was expected, and that’s exactly what happened with Argentina, initially not awarded a penalty in the fourth minute as Lisandro Martínez was felled in the area by Stefan Posch, but then given the spot-kick after a VAR intervention.

That gave Messi the opportunity to open the scoring, but he uncharacteristically dragged his shot wide. It lifted the Austrians, who pressed at every opportunity, with Marcel Sabitzer and David Alaba particularly industrious.

By the time of the first hydration break, Austria were certainly in the ascendancy, without really threatening their opponents’ goal. Konrad Laimer was also making his presence felt, attempting four one-on-ones, but with Argentina then beginning to claw their way back into the game, it was only a matter of time before they took the lead.

Who else but Messi would light the blue touch paper, with a record-breaking 17th World Cup goal, as he side-footed home Facundo Medina’s low cross. 

Austria responded well after the break and started the second half on the front foot. Emi Martínez quickly had to make his first save of the afternoon, before expertly turning over Marcel Sabitzer’s venomous free-kick.

With Austria much more physical in the tackle, free-kicks lent a stop-start element to proceedings, and whilst that frustrated Argentina, it also hamstrung Das Team’s ability to get any sort of rhythm to their play. 

Nico González’s powerful free header from Argentina’s first corner, taken by Messi, in the 72nd minute, should’ve nestled in the net but drifted agonisingly wide, and as Austria became more desperate to equalise, the game began to open up.

Kevin Danso blocked González’s late effort, whilst at the other end, sub Marko Arnautovic was simply marked out of the game as La Albiceleste sealed victory late on.

It was that man Messi who grabbed his second in stoppage time, smashing home through a crowd of players after a goalmouth scramble. 

The result means that Argentina extend their unbeaten record at the World Cup to eight matches (W6, D2) and won their ninth consecutive game, whilst Austria lost only their second game in their last 13 in all competitions (W10, D1). However, Ralf Ragnick’s side are still in a position to make the knockout stages themselves. 

Flashscore Man of the Match: Lionel Messi (Argentina) 

See all the stats from the match here