'Very tired' Messi savours record night as Argentina march on

Lionel Messi became the most prolific scorer in World Cup history on Monday and, asked to pick his favourite goal and describe the feeling of breaking the record, summed up the night with characteristic understatement: "I'm very tired."

The 38-year-old Argentine captain missed a penalty, scored twice and stretched his World Cup scoring run to six matches in a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Austria that sent his team into the knockout stage.

"I'm very happy with the win," the 38-year-old Argentine captain said. "It was a hugely important victory, a tough one, and one we worked hard for. It gives us calm for what's coming."

The talismanic forward took a philosophical view of the early blunder. 

"I had the penalty that I could have scored," he reflected. "Well, maybe had I done that, I wouldn't have scored the others. You never know. But the truth is that the way it turned out today was spectacular. I'm happy about the results because of our participation and the teamwork."

When asked to rank his absolute favourite goal from his unparalleled World Cup career or describe the feeling of breaking the record, the master goalscorer could only smile through the exhaustion.

"I don't remember, really," he admitted with characteristic understatement. 

"I'm tired. I don't have a lot of strength and it's hard to think for me right now. So I'm just enjoying this moment and I want to join my colleagues."

Messi's first goal, a first-time finish from Facundo Medina's low cross in the 38th minute, moved him level with Brazilian great Marta on 17 World Cup goals across the men's and women's games. He completed his brace five minutes into added time, capitalising on a surging counter-attack to clean up his own rebound and fire low through traffic - taking him clear on his own with a historic new global benchmark of 18 goals.

The strike moved him to five goals at this tournament to lead the 2026 World Cup Golden Boot race ahead of Canada's Jonathan David and Germany's Deniz Undav. It also matched a rare milestone, making him just the third player to score in six consecutive World Cup matches alongside France's Just Fontaine and Brazil's Jairzinho.

With six points from two matches, Argentina have now safely reached the last 32 with a game to spare.

"So this is a World Cup," Messi added. "All of the matches are very intense, and all of the teams play well. And we're happy because we have six points and we're qualified."