Messi Sets World Cup Record as Argentina Beat Jordan
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- Messi entered in the 60th minute and sealed Argentina's 3-1 win over Jordan with a free-kick goal, extending his record as the men's all-time World Cup goal leader to 19.
- The strike made Messi the first player to score in seven consecutive World Cup matches, surpassing Just Fontaine and Jairzinho for the tournament mark, and marked his 72nd career free-kick goal.
- Giovani Lo Celso and Lautaro Martínez gave Argentina a 2-0 lead before Messi came on, with Lo Celso's 19th-minute free kick making him the first Argentine other than Messi to score in this tournament.
- Argentina, the Group J winners, will face first-time World Cup qualifier Cape Verde in the round of 32.
- Kylian Mbappé scored his 16th World Cup goal with a brace in France's 3-0 win over Iraq hours after Messi's record, keeping the all-time chase alive.
- Messi, who turned 39 three days earlier, now has 123 international goals — second to Cristiano Ronaldo's 145 — in 202 appearances and broke Miroslav Klose's previous 16-goal World Cup mark earlier in the tournament.
Why it matters: Messi now stands alone at 19 World Cup goals — three clear of Miroslav Klose's previous 16-goal record — while Mbappé's brace moves him to 16 total, keeping the GOAT chase alive. Argentina's ability to build a 2-0 lead through Lo Celso and Martínez before Messi entered sets up a manageable round-of-32 draw against first-time qualifier Cape Verde.
