Argentina met Austria in Dallas on Monday with Lionel Messi one goal away from becoming the World Cup's all-time leading scorer. Kick-off was set for 12pm local time, 1pm ET, 6pm BST and 3am Mon AEST, and the match carried the kind of immediate consequence that turns a group game into a marker for the tournament.
Messi had already set the tone the previous week with a hat-trick against Algeria, and another goal would push him past the existing World Cup scoring mark. For Argentina, it was also a chance to tighten control of Group J after an opening win that left the reigning force in the conversation for top spot before the knockout rounds begin.
That search for history was tied to one man in particular. Messi, 37, had been tearful at times in Argentina's opener while his family dealt with the undisclosed illness of his father Jorge, a detail that gave his next appearance a sharper edge than the numbers alone could explain. Argentina's starting lineup kept him at the center of the plan, with E. Martinez behind Molina, Romero, Lisandro Martinez, Medina, De Paul, Mac Allister, Fernandez, Almada, Messi and Lautaro Martinez.
Austria arrived with their own reasons to believe they could make the night uncomfortable. Ralf Rangnick's team had qualified for three successive European Championships and were coming off a 3-1 opening win over Jordan, but that result hid a loose stretch that included a sloppy goal conceded and a late finish from Marko Arnautovic after he came off the bench at half-time. Austria's lineup also showed how compact they intended to be, with A. Schlager, Posch, Danso, Alaba, Laimer, Seiwald, X. Schlager, Schmid, Sabitzer, Wanner and Gregoritsch starting, while Romano Schmid held the right wing.
Argentina and Austria were therefore playing for more than points. If Messi found the net, the record would change instantly; if he did not, the chase would roll on, but the attention would stay where it had been all week, on whether one more goal could turn a group match in Dallas into a place in World Cup history.
