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Argentina 2-0 Austria, and Lionel Messi is now the greatest World Cup goalscorer of all time. He had the nerve to miss a penalty first, then shrugged it off, scored from a Thiago Almada cutback before half-time, and added a stoppage-time second to take his tally to 18 World Cup goals — a men's record. Austria offered very little and are likely heading home. Argentina are through to the knockout stage.
Pre-match Talking Points
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1Both teams won their openers — Argentina beat Algeria 3-0, Austria edged Jordan 3-1 — which means this is essentially a game for top spot in Group J. Win and you're in cruise control for the knockout rounds; lose and you're sweating over goal difference in the final group game. Lose this and you're not out, but you're doing things the hard way.
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2These two have met before at World Cups, but not for a very long time. What's more relevant here is that Austria are at their first World Cup since 1998 — a 28-year absence. Argentina, meanwhile, are defending champions attempting to win back-to-back titles for the first time since 1962. One team is trying to remind people they exist; the other is trying to make history.
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3Lionel Messi goes into this game one goal away from breaking the all-time World Cup scoring record. He's currently level with Miroslav Klose on 16 goals after scoring a hat-trick against Algeria, and if he gets one here he becomes the greatest scorer in the competition's history. He's 38 years old, playing in what is almost certainly his last World Cup, and needs one goal. That's your watch.
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4Austria have a problem at right back — Stefan Posch has a broken jaw and is a major doubt, so Ralf Rangnick is likely to shunt Konrad Laimer, a central midfielder, out to fullback. Meanwhile Argentina are also without Gonzalo Montiel through hamstring trouble. Two teams missing a right back, facing each other. There's probably a punchline in there somewhere.
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5Austria haven't been at a World Cup since 1998, and the last time they were here they went out in the group stage without winning a game. Ralf Rangnick — the man who built the Red Bull football empire and managed Manchester United with varying degrees of chaos — has genuinely turned them into a team worth watching. If they somehow get a result here, it's one of the stories of the tournament. If they don't, nobody's really surprised, but Rangnick will have done enough to prove the project is real.
Team Talking Points
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1Messi is 39 years old, just battled through a World Cup semi-final admitting afterwards he was "really very tired," and is somehow still leading the Golden Boot race with eight goals. If he lifts this one, it's Argentina's fourth title and his own farewell tour written by a screenwriter with no self-control.
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2Argentina reached this final the hard way: 1-0 down to England with time running out in the semi, then two goals late on flipped it to a 2-1 win. Nobody in this squad seems to know how to lose calmly, which is either agony or entertainment depending on which shirt you're wearing.
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3This is Argentina's third World Cup final in the last four tournaments and their seventh overall — a run of sustained excellence that doesn't get talked about enough because Messi understandably eats all the oxygen in the room.
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4The referee is Slovenian official Slavko Vincic, and Argentina fans have one specific memory of him: he was in charge the day Saudi Arabia beat them 2-1 in 2022, still the biggest shock of that tournament. Best not to bring this up in the tunnel.
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5Despite defending the title and having the tournament's most potent attack — 19 goals, more than anyone else in the competition — Argentina go into the final as betting underdogs, with Spain favourites on every market. Mention this and you'll sound like you actually follow the odds, not just the shirt numbers.
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Top thing to say down the pub
Messi's 39, admits he's knackered, and is one win away from a fourth World Cup with Argentina — if this is the last dance, it's a hell of a way to go out.
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Avoid saying
"Is this Messi's last World Cup?" — every outlet on earth has asked this exact question this week and Messi hasn't answered it once, so asking it out loud just tells people you've read the same three headlines as everyone else.
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1Austria's World Cup ended at the first knockout hurdle — a 3-0 defeat to Spain in Los Angeles on July 2, with Mikel Oyarzabal scoring twice and Pedro Porro adding a third. Spain outshot them 23 to 5, so this wasn't close on the day.
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2The moment to remember is how Austria even got there: a wild 3-3 draw with Algeria in the final group game in Kansas City, enough to send them through as group runners-up. Games like that are exactly why people watch group-stage finales.
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3Losing 3-0 to a team that went on to reach the final is a softer landing than the scoreline suggests — Spain proved to be one of the best sides in the tournament, and Austria simply ran into them at the wrong moment.
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4No single Austria player dominated headlines the way some breakout stars did elsewhere, and that tells its own story — this was a well-organised, collective effort that got them further than a star-studded lineup might have without the same cohesion.
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5Getting outclassed by the eventual finalists is nothing to be ashamed of. Austria did their job in the group and bowed out to genuinely one of the two best teams in the world — file this under 'no shame in it' rather than a low point.
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Top thing to say down the pub
Austria go out 3-0 to Spain, who then went on to reach the final — so credit where it's due, Austria just picked the wrong knockout draw at the wrong time.
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Avoid saying
Don't call it a disappointing tournament for Austria — reaching the knockouts via a 3-3 thriller and then losing to the eventual finalists is a perfectly respectable World Cup, not a collapse.