Lionel Messi produced a moment of magic on his 1,000th career appearance as two-time champions Argentina beat Australia to reach the World Cup quarter-finals.
Messi, 35, was winning his 169th cap for his country and needed his brilliance to take them through to the next round and a tie against the Netherlands on Friday.
Argentina barely threatened in the first half but Paris Saint-Germain’s Messi stroked in a delightful low finish to spark wild celebrations from his fans.
It was his 789th career goal, 94 of which came for Argentina, and Messi is now joint top goalscorer in Qatar.
The South American fans were on their feet singing the game all game long and were delighted when Julian Alvarez doubled their advantage after Matt Ryan’s mistake.
Australia had little to offer but surprisingly with 13 minutes remaining when substitute Craig Goodwin’s strike took a huge deflection off Enzo Fernandez.
They could have leveled shortly after through Aziz Beych, whose incredible solo run put him past four players, but his shot was brilliantly blocked by a sliding challenge from Lezandro Martinez as Argentina won. received
Magical Messi delivered in the landmark match.
Australia frustrated Argentina for 35 minutes, sitting deep and compact, allowing no space at the back – Alejandro Gomes’ wild shot that flew over was the only sniff.
But every time Messi put his left boot on the ball, the stadium was buzzing with excitement, gasps of anticipation for something special.
And the little wizard showed exactly why he is considered the greatest of all time in his historic game, starting and finishing with a move that had the blue and white shirts dancing in the stands.
Messi saw the free-kick clear from the left but the Argentine recycled the ball, Brighton’s Alexis McAllister flicking a pass to Nicolas Otamendi, who beat Messi himself before curling a precise finish into the bottom corner. Left to take a touch to set.
Arms outstretched, Messi ran to celebrate in front of his adoring faithful after converting his ninth World Cup goal – remarkably his first in a knockout stage match – to equal Gabriel Batistuta’s Argentina record. Only one retreated.
The trademark flurry that followed was to no avail, but delighted the onlookers, who erupted with chants of “Messi, Messi, Messi”.
He could have pulled level in the second half – or even outscored Batistuta, but slipped to shoot straight at Ryan at the crucial moment and put two more efforts off target.
Former Brighton keeper Ryan had a moment to forget on his 10th World Cup appearance – the joint-most for his country – when he took a heavy touch from a backpass, allowing Manchester City’s Alvarez to head home. Got a chance to come in, spin and score. An open trap.
After their group stage heroics, Australia were looking to spring another surprise and hoped for one courtesy of Goodwin’s 20-yard drive with 13 minutes remaining.
They could have taken the game to extra-time when full-back Behich launched a great run to beat several defenders, but Martinez reacted in time.
An even better chance went to the Socceroos in the 97th minute when Garang Kol brought the ball down in the area but his shot on the turn was well blocked by a reflex save from Emiliano Martinez.
