Messi nets again, Argentina earn third WC win
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- Lionel Messi entered as a substitute in the 60th minute against Jordan and buried a free kick to seal Argentina's 3-1 win, pushing his men's World Cup career tally to 19 goals — three clear of Miroslav Klose's former record.
- Messi also set the mark for scoring in the most consecutive World Cup matches (seven), with the strike coming three days after his 39th birthday at a sold-out AT&T Stadium that chanted his name before he even came on.
- Giovani Lo Celso opened the scoring with a direct free kick — the first non-Messi free-kick goal for Argentina in years — before Lautaro Martínez doubled the lead from the penalty spot for his first-ever World Cup goal.
- Kylian Mbappé briefly matched Klose's 16-goal mark with a brace in France's 3-0 win over Iraq, but finished the group stage with four goals after failing to score in France's 4-1 victory over Norway.
- Argentina finished atop Group J and now faces Cape Verde, making their first-ever World Cup knockout-round appearance, in the Round of 32 — a matchup the wider coverage is already billing as a classic champion-vs-Cinderella clash.
Why it matters: Messi's latest milestone further separates him from the chasing pack — Mbappé would need four goals in the knockout rounds just to tie the new record of 19. For Argentina, the rotated lineup proved they can win comfortably without Messi starting, a critical asset heading into the business end of the tournament.
