Lionel Messi came off the bench to score his World Cup-leading sixth goal of the tournament for Argentina as the defending champions topped tournament debutant Jordan 3-1 at Dallas Stadium in both teams' final first round match in Group J.
With Messi initially watching from the sidelines, Giovani Lo Celso and Lautaro Martínez scored their first career World Cup goals for the Albiceleste in the first half, but Jordanian substitute Musa Al-Taamari made things interesting when he pulled one back for the underdogs just 10 minutes into the second.
Messi, this World Cup’s top scorer, came on with about a half-hour left to play. The GOAT, who turned 39 on Wednesday, was given a rest by coach Lionel Scaloni with Argentina already qualified for the round of 32, but he gave the crowd what they came to see with one of his signature free kicks with just over 10 minutes left to play.
Key Takeaways from Argentina's Win
Scaloni said on the eve of the match that Messi, who missed several games for MLS champion Inter Miami earlier this season because of what the club called 'muscle fatigue', wouldn’t start in the group stage finale.
But the calculation by Scaloni paid off. Lo Celso — who missed his country’s triumph four years ago in Qatar because of an untimely hamstring injury — scored a left-footed, Messi-esque free kick that beat Yazeed Abulaila and settled into the top corner of the goalkeeper’s net.
The Unstoppable Messi
Messi famously hates to not play, even when doing so could put him at risk of further injury. Not every manager has the guts to save him from himself when necessary. Scaloni doesn’t have that problem. The pair were teammates at that 2006 World Cup in Germany, and there’s a trust level between the two men after winning three consecutive major competitions (one world title and two Copa Américas).
A Warning to Future Opponents
As much as Argentina showed that they can score without the living legend — and that they might not need to rely on him the way they did in 2022, when he scored seven times (including twice in the World Cup final), he remains their undisputed leader. He’s also making a case that even at his advanced age, he still might be the best player in the world.
Argentina's Next Challenge
While Jordan goes home from its first World Cup appearance 0-3, another debutant — the tiny West African island nation of Cape Verde — has been this tournament’s Cinderella story.
