In the 1,000th match of his pro career, Argentina captain Lionel Messi scored his first goal in an elimination match in his World Cup history, when he opened the scoring against Australia in the 2022 FIFA Qatar Final on Saturday World Cup.
Messi took advantage of a ball defender Nicholas Otamendi prepared for him inside the box, and swiped it with his left hand to Australian goalkeeper Matthew Ryan’s right in the 35th minute.
Messi has failed in his previous four World Cup appearances in Germany 2006, South Africa 2010, Brazil 2014 and Russia 2018 to score any goals in the round of 16, starting with the final price.
Messi scored his third goal in the Qatar World Cup, joining quintet Ener Valencia (Ecuador), Kylian Mbappe (France), Cody Khakpo (Netherlands), Marcus Rashford (England) and Alvaro Morata (Spain) at the top of the list of the markers.
He opened the scoring in the first round against Saudi Arabia on a penalty kick (1-2), then against Mexico (2-0) in the second round with a shot from outside the area, and in the third round he was without goal against Poland (2-0).
Messi has raised his tally of goals in 1,000 games (778 for Barcelona, 53 for Paris Saint-Germain and 169 for Argentina) in his professional career so far, to 789 goals, including Saturday’s goal against Australia.
Messi also contributed 345 assists and won 41 titles in his career.
