Read 3 minutesUpdated: June 28, 2026 10:13 AM IST
Lionel Messi continued his excellent World Cup goal-scoring form as he stepped off the bench to score a superb free-kick in Argentina’s 3-1 win over Jordan in their final Group J match at Arlington on Saturday night.
Highlights: Argentina vs Jordan
Having already reached the knockout stages, Lionel Scaloni did not start with Messi, who had already scored five goals in the tournament. But without their talismanic figure, Argentina looked a team that knew what to do. Giovanni Lo Celso opened the Argentina account in 1999Th minute with a free-kick before Lautaro Martinez converted one from the spot in the 31stSt Minute to double the lead. Argentina went into autopilot mode until Musa Al Tamari reduced the margin in the 55th.Th minute
The 39-year-old Messi extended his World Cup record to 19 goals with a superb strike from a set-piece in the 80th minute before Martinez slotted home a first-half penalty 20 minutes from time. When he was brought down outside the box, Messi lined up to shoot with his left foot where he has scored numerous goals. Instead, he had a free-kick to try. Jordan felt threatened. A strong wall was built. Messi was standing 25 yards away. Goalkeeper Yajid Abulaila used every available second to make sure there was no open gap in the wall, even making sure the far post was completely covered. Instead, Messi curled one down to his left. He wasn’t even close to the corner, but Abulaila had been put on the wrong foot. He appeared to be preparing to wall off Messi, and made no move to see the ball go into the net as the Texans flared up. That goal, while not his best, was enough for Messi to book another record – he has now scored in seven consecutive World Cup matches, the first to do so.
Messi curled a free-kick around the Jordan wall for his 19th World Cup goal. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Messi became only the fourth player to score two World Cup goals from free-kicks, joining Brazil’s Rivellino (1970 and 1974), France’s Bernard Genghini (1982) and David Beckham, who scored twice for England in 1998 and 2006.
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Messi’s previous free-kick strike came in his third World Cup edition in 2014 where Argentina reached the final before being knocked out by Germany. Messi’s free-kick goal came in a group stage match against Nigeria which Argentina won 3–2 thanks to his brace.
Most goals in World Cup history
| rank | player | team | Round Scored |
match played |
Round Per to match |
Competition |
| 1 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | 19 | 29 | 0.65 | 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026 |
| 2 | Miroslav Klose | Germany |
16 |
24 | 0.67 | |
| 3 | Ronaldo | Brazil | 15 | 19 | 0.79 | |
| 4 | Gerd Muller | West Germany | 14 | 13 | 1.08 | 1970, 1974 |
| 5 | Kylian Mbappe | France | 14 | 15 | 0.93 | |
| 6 | Only Fontaine | France | 13 | 6 | 2.17 | 1958 |
| 7 | drank | Brazil | 12 | 14 | 0.86 | |
| 8 | Sander Kossis | Hungary | 11 | 5 | 2.2 | 1954 |
| 9 | Jurgen Klinsmann | West Germany Germany |
11 | 17 | 0.65 | 1990 1994, 1998 |
| 10 | Helmut Rahn | West Germany | 10 | 10 | 1 | 1954, 1958 |
Argentina’s talisman opened the World Cup with a dazzling hat-trick against Algeria before bagging a brace against Austria, comfortably leading the goal-scoring with six strikes in three games.