Messi misses a penalty, bags a brace and Argentina beat Austria 2-0
The Argentina captain made up for a 9th-minute penalty miss with goals at 38' and in stoppage time to lead Group J in Arlington.
Argentina beat Austria 2-0 at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, the retractable-roof Texan colossus that is one of the major US venues for the 2026 World Cup, in a second-round Group J clash. Lionel Scaloni's Albiceleste claimed their second win of the tournament and climbed to the top of the group in commanding fashion.
The match began with a scare for the reigning world champions. In the 9th minute, Lionel Messi had the chance to put Argentina ahead from the penalty spot, but his effort went begging and Austria breathed again. The miss, far from sinking the captain, was merely the prelude to his redemption.
Messi made amends in the 38th, finishing off a Facundo Medina pass to make it 1-0 and send the Argentine fans into raptures. With the lead, the Albiceleste, set up in a 4-4-2 with Emiliano Martínez in goal and Lautaro Martínez alongside Messi up front, controlled the tempo against an Austria that rarely threatened.
Ralf Rangnick turned to his bench — bringing on David Alaba and Paul Wanner, among others — in search of an equaliser, but his 4-2-3-1 could not find a way past Emiliano Martínez. The contest grew niggly late on, with yellow cards for Austria's Stefan Posch (40') and Konrad Laimer (76') and for Argentina's Facundo Medina (76') and Leandro Paredes (90+2').
The clincher arrived in stoppage time. In the 90+5, Messi completed his brace to seal the final 2-0 and cap a display that earned him the player-of-the-match award (rating 9.3), in a game refereed by Egypt's Amin Mohamed Omar.
With this win, Argentina move on to six points out of six and lead Group J with authority, putting one foot in the last 16 of the 2026 World Cup. Austria, who had opened the tournament with a victory, stay on three points and must respond on the final matchday to secure their place in the knockout stage.