Messi sets World Cup scoring record as Argentina top group

Lionel Messi missed an early penalty, then answered with the decisive finish that carried Argentina past Austria 2-0 and put him alone atop the World Cup’s all-time scoring list. The result sent Argentina to the top of its group and added another defining line to a tournament in which FIFA said Argentina, France and Norway stood out.

The performance showed both the power and the risk of Argentina’s formula. When Messi was off target from the spot, Argentina briefly looked vulnerable; when he recovered, the match swung back in its favor. That dependence has made Argentina dangerous in a short tournament, where one player can change the bracket in a single moment, but it also leaves little margin if Messi is contained or denied.

The wider tournament context gives that dependence even more weight. The FIFA World Cup 2026 is the 23rd edition of the competition and the first to feature 48 teams and three host countries, Canada, Mexico and the United States. The tournament includes 104 matches, and in the group stage each side plays every other team in its section once, with three points awarded for a win and one for a draw before the qualification criteria determine who advances to the knockout round.

England’s route has looked different. FIFA placed England, Croatia, Ghana and Panama in Group L and said England and Croatia could meet again in the round of 32, a reminder that bracket position matters as much as star power in a tournament built around group results and knockout pathways. England and Croatia both secured their place in the next round, alongside Colombia and Portugal, underlining how several contenders are advancing without needing a single player to carry every phase.

The final group draw took place at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., setting the tournament’s early map before the first ball was kicked. For Argentina, Messi’s record-breaker confirmed that a team anchored by one extraordinary scorer can still lead a group; for England, the path has been shaped more by structure, placement and progression through FIFA’s bracket than by one defining individual moment.