Colombia and Portugal draw blank, Messi becomes World Cup scoring king

Colombia and Portugal played out a scoreless 0-0 draw at Miami Stadium in a match that felt far bigger than the final line suggested. FIFA counted 36 efforts on goal, and none of them found the net, turning a top-of-the-group showdown into one of the tournament’s clearest tests of how far a team can go by controlling an elite opponent without finishing the job.

The point left Colombia on top of Group K after earlier wins over Uzbekistan and Congo DR, and sent Portugal through as runners-up. FIFA described the game as a duel of many arrivals and few conversions, and the rhythm matched that assessment from the opening exchanges through the final whistle in Miami. Colombia kept its composure in a match built on pressure and counterpressure, while Portugal repeatedly found ways to threaten without solving the final action.

Argentina, meanwhile, supplied the night’s other defining result with a 2-0 win over Austria. Lionel Messi scored both goals, but only after missing a penalty first, a sequence that fit the odd mix of tension and inevitability surrounding his latest World Cup performance. By the end of the match, Messi had moved to 18 World Cup goals and become the tournament’s all-time leading scorer.

That total pushed Messi past Miroslav Klose, who had held the record with 16. The milestone came with Austria goalkeeper Alexander Schlager on the wrong end of Messi’s decisive finish, and it gave Argentina a result that stood in sharp contrast to the deadlock in Miami: one side advancing through collective control against a heavyweight, the other still relying on the rare player who can turn a match with two strikes after a missed penalty.