Messi scores twice, breaks World Cup record in Argentina win

Lionel Messi turned Dallas Stadium into a milestone night for Argentina, scoring twice in a 2-0 win over Austria and passing Miroslav Klose as the all-time leading scorer in men’s FIFA World Cup history. The defending champions secured a place in the knockout stage with a game to spare, a result that sharpened the sense that the World Cup’s established powers were already pulling away from the pack.

The performance was as consequential for the tournament picture as it was for Messi’s legacy. Argentina’s victory on 22 June 2026 came in a first-stage match of the expanded 48-team World Cup, and it showed a side that entered the tournament with its stars in form and left Dallas with both progress and momentum. Austria, led by Ralf Rangnick’s organization and intensity, offered a tougher test than the scoreline suggested, but Messi’s finishing settled it and gave Argentina an early edge in a group stage that is quickly sorting contenders from everyone else.

France offered a second example of that gap in class in Philadelphia, where its Group I match against Iraq was interrupted by a thunderstorm and lightning and fans were evacuated for shelter before play resumed. The match was the first World Cup meeting between France and Iraq, and France arrived after beating Senegal in its opener while Iraq came in after losing to Norway. Kylian Mbappé struck for his 15th World Cup goal on his 100th international, putting France ahead just shy of the quarter-hour and underlining how quickly Didier Deschamps’ side can impose itself.

Taken together, the Argentina and France results gave the early tournament a familiar shape: title contenders are not merely advancing, they are establishing a class divide in finishing quality and control. In a competition expanded to 48 teams, that separation matters even more. Argentina’s place in the round of 32 is already secured, Messi has rewritten another record, and France has shown that even a weather delay cannot stop a favorite from announcing itself early.