With one of the most important goals of his career, Messi led Argentina to a 2-0 victory over Mexico on Saturday to ignite his team's World Cup chances.
LUSAIL, Qatar — Lionel Messi was almost in tears as he grabbed and shook his jersey in front of Argentina’s celebrating fans, then blew a kiss and looked to the sky.
Substitute Enzo Fernandez added a second goal in the 87th minute, ensuring Argentina bounced back from a 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia that ranked as one of the World Cup’s biggest ever upsets. It was an eighth World Cup goal for Messi, the same number scored in the tournament by rival Cristiano Ronaldo and also Diego Maradona — the Argentina great with whom he is so often compared.
Scaloni made five changes from the Saudi Arabia game in a bid to inject some more energy into the team but initially they made little difference in what proved to be a tense game lacking in quality. Argentina’s build-up play was slow and Mexico had little problem snuffing out its opponent's attacks. The momentum of the game changed completely and Mexico suddenly became ragged, with substitute striker Julian Alvarez proving much more effective for Argentina than Lautaro Martinez, the player he replaced.
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