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Dallas AT&T Stadium packed in 70,649 people. They came waiting for a record, but first they waited for a dull thud.
70,649 people packed into Dallas' AT&T Stadium. They came to witness a record, but first heard a muffled thud.
Early in the match, Lautaro was brought down in the penalty area by two defenders. Penalty. Messi took the spot kick but missed. Before the 70,000 fans could finish sighing, Dallas’ old history was brought up. 31 years ago, Maradona was dragged by two FIFA officials from the Cotton Bowl in Dallas for a drug test. 31 years later, 39-year-old Messi missed a penalty in this same city. The script didn’t follow the coronation narrative; it stalled from the start.
In the 38th minute, Medina played a cutback from the left, Almada let it run in the near post, and Messi slotted it home with his left foot at the far post. 17 goals. Klose’s record of 16 World Cup goals was broken with one precise finish. The tactical run created the easy chance, and the execution was crisp.
The record was broken, but the controversy from four days earlier still lingered. On June 17 in Kansas City, Argentina beat Algeria 3-0. Messi stamped on Mandi's calf from behind. Referee analysis outlet Archivo VAR pointed out that Messi, from behind, planted his studs on Mandi's calf, using excessive force that caused the leg to deform, which was clearly a straight red card, but VAR acted cowardly and turned a blind eye. Referee Marciniak didn’t pull out a card, and FIFA didn’t impose any additional punishment. Arriving in Dallas still warm from escaping a red card, the opponents naturally pushed their defensive intensity to the limit.
Austria coach Ralf Rangnick gave a polished analysis after the match, praising Messi for being able to “decide a match with just a few chances.” This compliment couldn’t hide the tactical frustration from Rangnick’s Red Bull-style high-pressing system, which ran its legs off. Austria pressed relentlessly, but Messi killed the game with minimal touches. The contrast stemmed from the extreme tactical sacrifice Argentina made to protect their core player.
In the 64th minute, Julián Álvarez came off the bench. The “Spider,” who had proven himself at Atlético Madrid and Manchester City, played nearly 30 minutes but had only a dozen touches. He created no chances and took no shots. He became a tactical hack running back and forth, doing the dirty work of exhausting opponents’ energy, just to create a few spaces for Messi’s touches. The entire team’s resources were tilted heavily toward the core, squeezing the margin for error for forward substitutions. Once Messi is locked down in the knockout stages, where will Scaloni find a second scoring threat?
In stoppage time, Messi scored again. 18 goals, a brace, standing alone as the all-time World Cup top scorer.
Since losing their opening match to Saudi Arabia in 2022, Argentina has not lost in the World Cup, securing early qualification for the 32-team stage. The official record is enough to satisfy. But to determine whether a defending champion team is over-relying on its core, don’t just look at the top scorer chart—keep an eye on the substitute forward’s touch count.