Messi, Mbappe fire teams into knockouts

Lionel Messi shook off an early penalty miss and scored twice Monday, June 22 (Tuesday in PGL) as Argentina defeated Austria 2-0 in Group J to reach the FIFA World Cup knockout stage.

The defending champions broke through before halftime after Messi started a slick attacking move, timed his run into the box and met Facundo Medina’s low cross with a first-time finish into the bottom corner.

The goal was Messi’s 17th in World Cup play, moving him past Germany’s Miroslav Klose as the all-time leading scorer in men’s World Cup history.

Messi had missed a chance to set the mark inside the first 10 minutes after Lautaro Martinez won a penalty, dragging his effort wide.

Austria, led defensively by David Alaba, frustrated the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner for long spells and denied him twice before he finally put the match away.

Messi sealed the victory in stoppage time after reacting quickest to a scramble in the box and forcing the ball home for his second goal of the night.

The late strike gave Messi 18 World Cup goals, moving him past Brazilian great Marta as the top scorer across the men’s and women’s tournaments.

The goal also extended Messi’s scoring streak to six consecutive World Cup matches.

Earlier in the tournament, Messi scored a hat trick in Argentina’s 3-0 win over Algeria, giving him five goals in the 2026 World Cup through two matches.

France also advanced to the last 32 on Monday after Kylian Mbappe scored twice on his 100th international appearance in a 3-0 victory over Iraq.

Ousmane Dembele added the third goal for the two-time world champions in the first match of this World Cup affected by a lengthy weather stoppage.

Mbappe’s goals came nearly three hours apart after thunderstorms delayed the second-half kickoff by just under two hours.

“The first half was good,” France manager Didier Deschamps said. “In the second half, we picked up where we left off, bearing in mind that it wasn’t easy given what happened, and we managed to put the game beyond reach. That’s a very good thing.”

Mbappe now has 16 career World Cup goals, drawing level with Klose, the former men’s record holder.

His four goals in the 2026 tournament put him one behind Messi in the Golden Boot race.

Dembele, the reigning Ballon d’Or winner, scored after halftime following criticism of his performance in France’s 3-1 opening win over Senegal.

“There’s no issue,” Deschamps said. “Ousmane is confident in himself. He can sometimes get people talking, but I have complete faith in him. He’s still finding his bearings because his role is different from the one he has at his club.”

France will face Norway on Saturday with Group I top spot at stake.

Norway beat Senegal 3-2 on Monday to move level with France on three points.

Iraq remain in contention for one of the eight third-place spots.

Iraq will likely need to beat Senegal in their group finale and get help elsewhere to advance.

Iraq could be without Aymen Hussein, who scored in their 4-1 opening defeat to Norway but left Monday’s match in the 26th minute with an apparent injury.

“You have one moment of excellence from one of the best players in the world,” said Ali Al-Hamadi, who replaced Hussein.

“And then we have to go inside and wait for an hour and a half. You know, it’s really difficult to come out and keep the same intensity against these great players. And in the end I think we made too many mistakes again,” he added.

France dominated early, and Mbappe struck in the 14th minute.

After a routine-looking sequence on the right, Mbappe received Michael Olise’s pass, took one touch to his left and fired a powerful shot from the edge of the area beyond Ahmed Basil’s dive.

The weather delay could have offered Iraq a chance to regroup after chasing the ball for much of the first half.

Instead, Iraq gifted France a second goal in the 54th minute after a poor sequence from a goal kick.

Basil failed to control a short goal kick from defender Zaid Tahseen, allowing Dembele to set up Mbappe for a simple tap-in.

Dembele scored 12 minutes later after controlling Olise’s incisive pass and finishing low past Basil.

The result was rarely in doubt, but the weather produced the match’s biggest disruption.

Referee Drew Fischer blew the halftime whistle as storms were already building.

Spectators were then told to seek shelter in the stadium concourses as the skies opened further.

Players re-emerged for warm-ups about one hour and 40 minutes later.

The restart was delayed again as stadium personnel used squeegees to clear standing water from the east side of the pitch.