Argentina completed a pristine group stage in Dallas on Saturday with a 3-1 victory over a willing but outclassed Jordan, yet the scoreline felt almost incidental beside another evening of shattering milestones from Lionel Messi. Introduced in the 60th minute with the lead already secured by Giovani Lo Celso’s curling free-kick and a Lautaro Martínez penalty, Messi needed twenty minutes to whip a dead ball of his own over the wall and inside the far post. The strike was his sixth of the tournament and his 19th in World Cup finals, enlarging the record he had already taken from Miroslav Klose.

The evening had begun without urgency. Lionel Scaloni, with qualification sealed, rotated nine starters and kept his captain cloaked on the bench, chewing gum as Lo Celso’s 19th‑minute free‑kick arced into the top corner. Martínez converted from the spot after a VAR review for a high boot to Marcos Senesi’s face, and Jordan, spirited in their first World Cup, pulled a goal back through Mousa Al‑Tamari’s close‑range finish early in the second half. Then the crowd summoned Messi, and when his moment arrived he sculpted the free‑kick that made him the first player to score in seven consecutive World Cup appearances – a sequence stretching from the 2022 round of 16 through all three group games in North America.

Only two men had previously scored in six straight: Just Fontaine (1958) and Jairzinho (1970). Messi’s six goals in this edition already match or exceed the golden‑boot tallies of almost every World Cup since 1978, with only Ronaldo’s eight in 2002 and Kylian Mbappé’s eight in 2022 standing higher. The free‑kick was also his 72nd career goal from a dead ball, drawing level with the Brazilian specialist Juninho Pernambucano. Behind him in the scoring charts sit Mbappé, Erling Haaland, Ousmane Dembélé and Vinícius Júnior, all four adrift on four goals.

Scaloni, at his press conference, sounded like a man searching for yet another superlative. “It’s a little uncomfortable when people ask me about him, because I don’t know what to say anymore,” he said. “The only word that comes to mind is ‘surprised’.” The coach’s broader satisfaction came from a 50th World Cup win for Argentina – a milestone reached only by Brazil and Germany – and from the depth displayed by a reshuffled side. Jordan depart after three defeats, but they scored in every match and exposed occasional seams in the champions’ defence.

Argentina now look to the round of 32 and Cape Verde, the tournament’s smallest nation by population and its most resourceful debutant. They held Spain, Uruguay and Saudi Arabia to draws, and their 40‑year‑old goalkeeper Vozinha has yet to be beaten from open play. Scaloni cautioned: “There are no easy matches.” The fixture, set for Miami on July 4, will bring Messi back to the city where he now plays his club football, and another capacity crowd will expect more history.