Messi makes history as Argentina top Group J with 3-1 win over Jordan
The Mt Kenya Times 
The Argentine captain became the first player to score in seven consecutive World Cup matches as the defending champions closed a perfect group stage.
By Norman Mwale
Lionel Messi wrote another chapter of football history on Saturday night, becoming the first player ever to score in seven successive World Cup matches as defending champions Argentina closed their Group J campaign with a 3-1 victory over Jordan at Dallas Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
With qualification already secured, coach Lionel Scaloni made nine changes to the side that beat Austria, yet Argentina’s depth was evident from the outset. Giovani Lo Celso, handed his first World Cup start, gave the champions the lead in the 19th minute with a curling free-kick from around 20 metres that bent beyond goalkeeper Yazeed Abulaila into the far corner — the first goal at this tournament for Argentina scored by someone other than Messi.
The second arrived in the 31st minute from the penalty spot. A VAR review showed Julián Álvarez, who moments earlier had struck the crossbar, was kicked in the face during a goalmouth scramble. Lautaro Martinez stepped up and converted calmly to double the advantage before half-time.
Jordan, playing in their first World Cup and already eliminated, refused to capitulate. Mousa Al-Tamari pulled one back in the 55th minute, converting a low cross from Ihsan Haddad to become the first player to beat Emiliano Martinez at the 2026 finals. The goal gave the contest fresh life and prompted Scaloni into action.
Messi entered the fray on the hour mark to a roar from a crowd of 70,649 — a decidedly pro-Argentina gathering that had been chanting his name since the restart. He did not disappoint. In the 80th minute, the 39-year-old curled a trademark low free-kick — won after he himself was brought down on the edge of the area — into the left corner past a rooted Abulaila. The strike took him past France’s Just Fontaine and Brazil’s Jairzinho, who had both scored in six consecutive finals matches, and extended his World Cup tally to a record 19 goals.
“What you’re seeing, I’m seeing the same thing,” Scaloni said afterwards. “It’s a little bit of an uncomfortable situation every time people ask, because I no longer know what to say.” Lo Celso, reflecting on his own milestone, added: “I am very happy for him, for the moment he is having. Seeing him every day — it excites and infects us all.”
Argentina finished top of Group J with three wins from three and a maximum nine points. They now face Cape Verde in a round-of-32 tie in Miami on Friday. For Jordan, a third defeat nonetheless carried a moment of history in Al-Tamari’s strike — the first World Cup goal conceded by the tournament’s last remaining clean sheet.
With Messi’s streak intact and the fringe players having made compelling cases for selection, Argentina’s message to the rest of the field could hardly have been more emphatic.
Similar Posts by The Mt Kenya Times:
- Zimbabwe’s luxury economy: why wealth without work is not enough
- Faith and testimony: congregation celebrates car blessing at Kwekwe Church
- Jo Worthy: the woman who built a movement
- Medics have decried the rising cases of drug abuse as authorities in Kisii destroyed bhang worth KSh18 million
- Diaspora Times Global June 27 – July 1, 2026
About the Author
