Lionel Messi bag two WC records as Argentina beat Austria


ARLINGTON, Texas -- Lionel Messi set a FIFA World Cup record with his 17th and 18th goals, and defending champion Argentina advanced to the knockout stage with a 2-0 victory over Austria on Monday.

Messi had a golden opportunity to break the record in the ninth minute, but went wide to the right on a penalty kick. Almost 30 minutes later, Messi caught Alexander Schlager leaning the wrong way after Thiago Almada let Facuno Medina's pass go by him directly onto Messi's left foot.

Messi scored again in injury time to move two ahead of Germany striker Miroslav Klose. The Argentina captain also moved ahead of Klose for all-time wins at a World Cup, with Messi now at 18 individual victories on world soccer's biggest stage.

The win for Argentina keeps them atop Group J and ensures they will be in the knockout rounds of the World Cup. They finish group play on Saturday against Jordan.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this recap.