ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Lionel Messi didn’t have much time to pursue his first goal of a seven-game scoring streak. world cup game.
The Argentine superstar did it anyway, coming on as a second-half substitute.
With his 19th goal, Messi secured his seventh straight victory and extended his record for all-time goals in the Men’s World Cup. Argentina won 3-1 They defeated Jordan in the final group stage game on Saturday night.
in his first match After turning 39 years old Three days earlier, Messi scored with a free kick in the 80th minute after being brought down just outside the penalty area. A low kick that barely hit the grass surface, tore through two Jordan defenders and into the left corner of the net.
This was his 72nd career free-kick goal, including 12 for Argentina. Messi currently has 123 goals in 202 international appearances, ranking him second in the all-time list behind Cristiano Ronaldo’s 145 goals.
Messi was one of only three players to score in six consecutive World Cup matches, along with France international striker Juste Fontaine and Brazilian great Jairzinho.
“What you see, I see the same thing,” manager Lionel Scaloni said through an interpreter. “Every time people ask me, it’s a little bit of an awkward situation because I don’t know what to say anymore.”
Messi also scored a goal from a free kick against Nigeria in the 2014 World Cup, making him one of six players to have scored two goals from a free kick in a World Cup, with records dating back to 1966. He joins Pele, Rivellino, Teofilo Cubillas, Bernard Zingini and David Beckham.
“I’m very happy that he’s in this moment,” Giovani Lo Celso said in translated comments after becoming the first Argentine player other than Messi to score in this tournament with a free kick in the 19th minute. “The truth is that every day I see him, I get excited, I get excited, I get a lot of inspiration. So it’s obviously very important for us to see him like that.”
Messi did not start as Argentina had already clinched first place in Group J, but Jordan had already been eliminated in the knockout stages, making the match even more meaningless.
Nevertheless, the decidedly pro-Argentine crowd of 70,649 at the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys was eager to see him.
Fans started shouting Messi’s name as soon as the second half started, and cheered loudly when he came off the bench just to warm up.
The roar grew even louder in the 60th minute when he stepped onto the field to replace Lautaro Martinez, who had scored from a penalty in the first half.
Messi, an eight-time Ballon d’Or winner as Europe’s best player, has never won the Golden Boot as the top scorer at any World Cup, despite his many accomplishments. This is the 6th time.
Messi has scored six goals in this competition, more than Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Erling Haaland, who each have two goals.
Messi suffered a minor hamstring injury at Inter Miami, which delayed his preparation for the World Cup.
Argentina’s final tournament begins Friday in South Florida and will be the first of five games in 17 days in the expanded 48-team tournament if La Albiceleste advances to the July 19 final.
“He could have played 90 minutes today,” Scaloni said. “He wanted his teammates to spend time on the pitch and also protect himself for what was to come. He doesn’t really think about the numbers that people are talking about.”
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