Lionel Messi came off the bench to score his 19th World Cup goal and set a new record for scoring in seven consecutive tournament matches as Argentina beat Jordan 3-1 in Dallas to finish top of Group J with a perfect record.
The Argentina captain was kept on the bench until the final half hour by manager Lionel Scaloni, who made nine changes from the win over Austria. Only goalkeeper Emi Martinez and Lautaro Martinez kept their places. But the World Cup holders showed no let-up.
“Messi scored in seventh straight World Cup game as Argentina beat Jordan 3-1 to top Group J.”
Giovani Lo Celso opened the scoring in the 19th minute, curling a free kick into the top corner after being fouled by Mohannad Abutaha on the edge of the box. The former Tottenham midfielder became the first Argentina player other than Messi to score at this World Cup.
Lautaro Martinez doubled the lead just after the half-hour mark from the penalty spot, awarded after a VAR check when Nizar Alrashdan fouled Marco Senesi. Argentina thought they had a third three minutes into the second half when Lo Celso poked in from Martinez's cut-back, but the Inter Milan forward was offside.
Jordan pulled one back through half-time substitute Mousa Al Tamari, who converted a low cross from Ehsan Haddad. That prompted Scaloni to send on Messi as part of a triple change.
The Inter Miami star had an early chance from a free kick but couldn't keep his shot down. However, with 10 minutes remaining, Messi himself was fouled on the edge of the box. From the resulting free kick, he slotted a low shot through a gap in the Jordan defence, beating goalkeeper Yazeed Abulaila who had been caught out by poor positioning throughout the match — similar to his earlier lapse on Lo Celso's goal.
The goal extended Messi's own all-time World Cup scoring record to 19 goals and made him the first player to score in seven straight World Cup matches, a streak stretching back to the last 16 of Qatar 2022. He moved clear of France's Just Fontaine and Brazil's Jairzinho, who had held the previous record of six.
Jordan at least exited their debut World Cup having scored in all three group games. For Argentina, Emi Martinez remains four clean sheets short of Sergio Romero's national record after conceding to Al Tamari.