The Messi Game: 4 Takeaways From Argentina’s Record-Breaking Win Over Austria

Argentina came to Dallas needing a result to top the group and left with a record. Lionel Messi spent the opening 10 minutes missing a penalty and reminding everyone he’s human. He spent the next 85 showing everyone why he isn’t. Here are my takeaways from Argentina’s 2-0 win over Austria: 1. Klose-ing Time: Messi Didn’t Want A Roommate For exactly one game, Messi had shared the all-time World Cup men’s scoring record with Germany’s Miroslav Klose at 16 goals. Apparently the arrangement annoyed him. Late in the first half on Monday’s match, Facundo Medina dug out a cross from the left, Messi took one touch, and the ball settled in the bottom corner. No. 17 for No. 10, and the record was his alone. In stoppage time he added an 18th goal, threading it through a thicket of Austrian legs like a man squeezing onto a closing subway car. Klose needed four tournaments to reach 16. Messi is in his sixth World Cup, two days shy of 39 years of age, and just opened a two-goal lead on the retired German striker. Messi also missed a penalty—the first player to do so at this tournament. Given the evening he just had, no one will remember that miss from the spot. 2. 40 Years After Maradona Magic, Messi Equals His Tally – In His Late 30s. Forty years ago to this date, Diego Maradona beat England with his fist and then with the finest goal the tournament has ever produced. The most Argentine afternoon in football history. Maradona scored 34 goals for Argentina across his entire career and was retired from international duty by 33. But here’s the number that shouldn’t be possible: Messi has scored 34 since his 35th birthday alone. That’s a whole Maradona, assembled from spare parts and stubbornness in the years most players spend on a beach. Here are the numbers that matter: 18 World Cup goals to eight, 120 international goals to 34. The comparison stopped being a comparison a long time ago. 3. Argentina Won Ugly — Which Is The Scary Part This was not the clinic that Argentina put on last week against Algeria. Ralph Rangnick’s Austria did the Rangnick things: pressed in waves, stayed compact, refused to lend Argentina any rhythm. Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni kept his 4-3-3 with Messi drifting in off the right, and the fluency came and went like a bad phone signal. Argentina edged possession 54%-46% and spent long stretches managing rather than menacing. Austria even had chances. Kevin Danso flung himself in front of an Enzo Fernández shot on the line, Michael Gregoritsch headed over, a stoppage-time header slid wide, and Argentina keeper Emiliano Martínez had to earn his paycheck on a Marcel Sabitzer free kick. They did everything right and lost 2-0 to a squad that had missed a penalty. That’s the warning for the rest of the bracket: the champion played at maybe 70 percent and still strolled out with three points. 4. Austria: Down, Not Out The scoreline stings, but Austria’s tournament is alive and, better still, in their own hands. They sit second in Group J on three points, and that 3-1 win against Jordan in the opener has quietly become the most important thing they’ve done all year. Argentina has won the group and reached the Round of 32. One automatic ticket remains. It comes down to the final match against Algeria. Win it, and Rangnick’s side almost certainly advance — Monday’s Jordan-Algeria result will tidy up the exact math, but Austria controls the part that counts. And they’ve earned the benefit of the doubt. They pressed the world champions, made real chances, and didn’t flinch. Nobody’s idea of a fun knockout draw, if they get there.