Overview
- Argentina beat Austria 2-0 at AT&T Stadium in Dallas on Monday, June 22, 2026, with Lionel Messi scoring once in each half after missing an early VAR-awarded penalty.
- Messi's second-half strike put him on 17 World Cup goals, moving him past Miroslav Klose as the tournament's all-time leading scorer.
- The victory gave Argentina six points and guaranteed at least a second-place finish in Group J, with the final group positions to be settled on June 27 and Argentina's round-of-16 opponent coming from Group H.
- VAR played a decisive role when it overturned the referee to award the early penalty, the miss prompted heavy social-media reaction in Argentina, and Messi recovered to deliver the match-winner.
- The game drew broad television and streaming coverage across the three host countries and international platforms, and coverage highlighted the large market-value gap between Argentina's squad and Austria's as part of pre-match expectations.