Leonel Messi crushes Australia in Argentina’s 2-1 win

• Lionel Messi scored his first World Cup goal in his 1000th competitive game.
• Garang Kuol became the youngest World Cup player since Pelé in 1958.
• The last Argentine to score in his first two World Cup starts was Hernán Crespo in 2006.

Lionel Messi’s World Cup quest continues. Messi scored his first World Cup knockout stage goal in his 1000th competitive game. It took him 24 shots and 791 minutes, but he did it before Ronaldo (none in 514 mins & from 25 shots).

Messi’s opener gave him nine World Cup goals, passing Diego Maradona. Only Gabriel Batistuta (10) stands in Messi’s way of the Argentine World Cup record, but Messi’s next appearance will make him double Batistuta’s total (24 vs. 12).

Julián lvarez scored Argentina’s second goal and hopes to match Messi’s World Cup total. At 22, Manchester City’s forward has three more World Cups ahead of him.

His second stroke in this competition came after Mat Ryan’s inaccuracy. The last Argentine to score in his first two World Cup starts was Hernán Crespo in 2006, while the youngest player to do so was Spain’s Fernando Torres in the same year.

Australia put up a good fight tonight in a game that few expected them to advance from. Craig Goodwin’s reckless strike cannoned off Enzo Fernández for their consolation goal, and Garang Kuol had their sole attempt on target with virtually the last kick of the game. Kuol, 18, became the youngest World Cup player since Pelé in 1958. (17 years, 249 days).

Argentina had won three in a row since their opening-day loss to Saudi Arabia, which broke a 36-game unbeaten streak. As the tournament progresses, they’re a scary opponent.

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