DALLAS, June 23 — Lionel Messi bowed his head and covered his face with his right hand. For a fleeting moment, the weight of the occasion seemed to show.
The Argentina captain had just pushed a ninth-minute penalty wide of the right post, passing up an opportunity to make history and put his side ahead against Austria. The miss soon faded into irrelevance. When Facundo Medina’s low cross arrived in the 38th minute, Messi reacted before anyone else. A clever dummy from Thiago Almada allowed the ball to run through, and the 38-year-old swept a left-footed finish beyond Alexander Schlager. The goal was Messi’s 17th at the World Cup, moving him clear of Germany’s Miroslav Klose and making him the tournament’s outright leading scorer. As the ball hit the net, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner wheeled away in celebration before pointing toward Almada in recognition of his teammate’s role in the move. Seconds later, he disappeared beneath a swarm of Argentina shirts. When he finally emerged, he looked toward the stands and raised his right fist. It was a celebration of achievement, but perhaps also one of relief.
Few records remain for Messi to chase. Over more than two decades, he has won almost every major honor in football while rewriting the game’s statistical record books. Yet the World Cup has always occupied a special place in the sport’s imagination and in the story of his career. For years, Messi’s performances at the tournament were measured against those of Diego Maradona, whose exploits in 1986 became part of Argentina’s national identity. Lifting the trophy in Qatar in 2022 gave Messi the one achievement that had long eluded him, even if comparisons between the two never fully disappeared.
Messi’s first World Cup goal came in Germany in 2006. Last week, he marked the 20th anniversary of that strike with a hat trick against Algeria in his 200th international appearance. Winning the tournament in Qatar appeared to settle the defining question of his career, but he continues to find new ways to reinforce his place in football history. There was still time for one more contribution. Deep into stoppage time, Messi put the result beyond doubt, reacting quickest to turn in the rebound after Schlager saved his initial effort. The missed penalty may have briefly interrupted the script, but it did not stop the inevitable. Messi once again found a way to leave his mark at the World Cup.
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