In the 35th minute, Messi took advantage of a ball delivered into the box by Nicolas Otamendi to unleash a shot placed from the left that Australian goalkeeper Mathew Ryan could not stop.
In the four Worlds he had previously played in Germany, South Africa, Brazil and Russia, the Argentine No. 10 had never scored a single goal in a cleaver match, from the round of 16. .
In Qatar, Messi scored his third goal of the tournament, notably joining Frenchman Kylian Mbappé at the top of the World Cup-2022 scorer rankings.
He had scored against Saudi Arabia in the opener (Argentina 2-1 defeat), then against Mexico in the second match (2-0 success), remaining silent on Wednesday in the 2-0 victory against Poland.
In 1,000 games (778 with FC Barcelona, 53 with Paris Saint-Germain and 169 with Argentina), Messi has scored 789 goals, including the one scored against Australia on Saturday night.
He also delivered 345 assists and won 41 titles.
© 2022 AFP