Argentina advanced into the quarterfinals of the World Cup on Saturday with a 2-1 victory over Australia. Marking Lionel Messi’s 1,000th professional game and his first goal in the knockout stage.
Messi scored Argentina’s first goal in the 34th minute with a flourish of his renowned left foot. It was his third World Cup goal this year and his ninth overall, one more than Diego Maradona.
For Argentina’s second goal, Julian Alvarez capitalized on a heavy touch by Australia goalkeeper Mathew Ryan to tap into an empty net. This set up a quarterfinal matchup with the Netherlands.
Craig Goodwin’s shot deflected off of Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez and into the Australia goal in the 77th minute.
At a World Cup where the team exceeded expectations by reaching the knockout stage for only the second time. It was a match too far for Australia’s unheralded players. In 2006, Australia was defeated by eventual champion Italy in the last 16 as well. Maybe it’s a sign for Argentina, which has won three straight games since its shocking loss to Saudi Arabia in its first group match.
Messi has scored 789 goals in his career, which may reach its zenith on December 18. When he wins soccer’s most prestigious trophy at his fifth and most likely final World Cup. Lionel Messi is a professional footballer from Argentina. Who has played forward for the Argentina national team since making his debut in 2005?
From that point forward, Messi has scored 94 objectives in 169 global appearances, making him the nation’s unsurpassed top scorer. With a free kick against the United States in the semi-finals of the Copa América Centenario on June 21, 2016, he beat Gabriel Batistuta’s record of 54 goals. With a hat trick against Bolivia in September 2021, he also broke Pelé’s record for most goals by a man from South America.
Messi made his debut for Argentina on August 17, 2005, in a 2–1 away win over Hungary. At 18 years and 357 days, Messi scored against Serbia and Montenegro on June 16, 2006, making him the youngest Argentine World Cup goal scorer ever. He has netted twice in a match (also known as a brace) ten times, including eight international hat tricks.
Messi scored five goals for the first time in an international match in a friendly against Estonia in June 2022. Messi has scored the most goals against Bolivia, with eight, out of all of his opponents.
Messi has scored 28 objectives in FIFA World Cup qualifiers. He led his team to victory in the tournament in 2021, as well as runner-up finishes in 2007, 2015, and 2016.
He allegedly declined the Best Player award at the 2015 tournament, and the trophy was not presented at the ceremony. However, after winning the Copa América in 2021, he accepted the Best Player award. In FIFA World Cup competitions, Messi has scored nine times:43 of Messi’s goals have come in friendlies. Including once in 2006 four times in 2014 when he led his team to the final and won the Golden Ball for best player, once in 2018, and three times in 2022.