KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Lionel Messi world cup Switzerland’s scoring streak came to an end on Saturday night, but the co-leader in the race for the Golden Boot with France’s Kylian Mbappe still found a way to add to his record with assists. Argentina won 3-1.
The game had only started for 10 minutes – Messi, who needed help from a trainer in the second half after sustaining a bruise near his right eye, won a corner kick with some nifty footwork. From there, the Inter Miami star played a perfect ball into the box, which Alexis Mac Allister headed home for a 1-0 lead.
Switzerland equalized in the 67th minute and the match eventually went to extra time, but Julian Alvarez rocketed into the top corner in the 112nd minute and Lautaro Martinez added the winning goal to give the defending champions a positive rating.
Argentina will play England in the semi-finals in atlanta on wednesday.
One of the first questions Switzerland coach Murat Yakin was asked before the match was how to stop Messi, who had scored in the last nine World Cup games and the final six of the finals. He also holds the tournament record with 21 goals.
“This is a very surprising question,” Yakin answered jokingly. “There are a lot of solutions, but we try to find the best solution. … We can talk a lot about it, but in the end it has to actually be reflected on the pitch, and we have a solution.”
In fact, the Swiss player did a good job of containing the dynamic goalscorer.
Messi started his World Cup frenzy in the same building about three weeks ago. In this tournament, he led Argentina to a 3-0 victory over Algeria, scoring his first hat-trick in the tournament. He went on to score eight goals as the team advanced to the quarterfinals.
But not everything was glamorous for Messi during the World Cup. He missed penalties in both matches against Austria and Egypt, and the second penalty could have been fatal, given that Argentina were forced into a 2-0 hole in the end.
But it was Messi who put Argentina ahead by assisting Cristian Romero’s header in the 79th minute, and it was the ageless attacking midfielder who equalized four minutes later by beating Egyptian goalkeeper Mostafa Chobeir.
In the end, Enzo Fernandes scored the winning goal in stoppage time, sending Argentina into a match against Switzerland.
“He is like a machine,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said of Messi, whose every World Cup match could be his last in the national team jersey. “People who don’t know him that well might be surprised, and some might think he’s not up to the challenge at 39 years old. But I’ve said it before, as long as he wants to be the best — and I’m not saying that because I’m coaching him — but because if he wants to continue, he’s going to continue to be the best.”
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