Messi nets again, Argentina earn third WC win

Lionel Messi scored again to seal a perfect group stage for Argentina. He came off the bench in the 60th minute of Argentina's World Cup group stage finale against Jordan, celebrating his return with a stunning free kick to secure a 3-1 victory for the reigning champions, who had already wrapped up first place in the group. Messi's strike extended his record as the highest goalscorer in men's World Cup history with 19 goals and broke the record for scoring in the most consecutive World Cup matches at seven.

It marked his 72nd career goal on a free kick and 12th for Argentina, bringing his total to 123 international goals, second all-time to Cristiano Ronaldo's 145, in 202 appearances. The 39-year-old had been one of only three players to score in six consecutive World Cup games alongside France striker Just Fontaine and Brazil's Jairzinho.

The crowd at AT&T Stadium began chanting Messi's name as soon as the second half started, cheering loudly even when he just stepped off the bench to warm up. The roar was deafening when he finally entered the pitch on Saturday night, just three days after his 39th birthday. The all-time leading men's World Cup scorer already had five goals in this tournament for La Albiceleste.

With Messi resting early, Giovani Lo Celso and Lautaro Martínez scored in the first half against a Jordan side that had already been eliminated from knockout contention. Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni had previously confirmed that Messi would start on the bench before getting minutes later in the match. When his moment came in the 60th minute, Messi replaced Martínez.

Lo Celso opened the scoring with a direct free kick, marking the first free-kick goal for La Albiceleste by a player not named Messi in years. Martínez then doubled the lead in the first half, burying a penalty into the lower-left corner, achieving the Inter Milan striker's first-ever World Cup goal. Messi originally broke the 16-goal World Cup record he shared with Germany's Miroslav Klose earlier in the tournament with a brace against Austria.

Now playing in his sixth World Cup, Messi stands alone, well past Klose, whose final tournament goal came against Messi and Argentina in the 2014 final. Kylian Mbappé briefly matched Klose's mark of 16 with a brace in France's 3-0 win over Iraq a few hours after Messi set the new record. Mbappé, who sits just behind Messi with four goals in this tournament, did not score in France's 4-1 win over Norway in their final group match.

Argentina, the Group J winners, would now face first-time World Cup qualifiers Cape Verde in the Round of 32.