Argentina beat – Lionel Messi came on in the second half and scored again as defending World Cup champion Argentina closed Group J with a perfect three-game sweep, beating Jordan 3-1 in Arlington, Texas.
ARLINGTON, Texas — The defending champions didn’t need to change their mood once they’d clinched the group stage. They changed their lineup.
On Saturday night. Argentina delivered a 3-1 victory over Jordan to finish Group J with a three-game sweep. with nine starters different from the previous match because the group had already been decided. The night still carried the same signature: Lionel Messi. entering in the 60th minute and scoring in the 80th minute after turning 39 three days earlier.
Giovani Lo Celso became the first Argentina player other than Messi to score in this World Cup, striking on a direct free kick in the 19th minute in his first World Cup start. Messi followed after subbing on in the second half, extending his mark as World Cup history’s top scorer to 19 goals.
“ I am very happy for him, for the moment he is having,” Lo Celso said in translated remarks about their captain.
Argentina’s other goal came from Lautaro Martinez, who put the team ahead 2-0 with a penalty kick in the 31st minute, after his earlier close-range shot ricocheted off the crossbar in the same sequence. Martinez was later subbed out for Messi.
Jordan did get on the board. Mousa Altamari, who entered at the start of the second half, scored in the 55th minute.
Both Martinez and goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez were the only players to start all three of Argentina’s group matches.
Messi led the tournament entering Saturday with six goals. and the weekend’s scoring continued a run that has defined his World Cup career. He scored all five of Argentina’s goals in wins over Algeria and Austria. including his first World Cup hat trick and then two goals in his record-setting game Monday. He has now scored in seven consecutive World Cup games. breaking a tie with France’s Just Fontaine and Brazil great Jairzinho for the longest all-time streak.
Coach Lionel Scaloni framed the rotation as part of a plan once Group J was secured. He said through an interpreter, “I was able to include all the footballers for them to play. This was a goal that we have always set for ourselves.”
He added, “I think they played quite well in a difficult match. They showed today that we can count on them.”
Argentina, which has seven wins and two draws in its last nine World Cup games, will play in the round of 32 on Friday against Cape Verde, the smallest country to earn a spot in the knockout round. That game is in Miami, the home of Messi’s Major League Soccer team.
Saturday’s win marked the fifth time Argentina has won all of its matches in group stage. It was also the first such sweep since back-to-back tournaments in 2010 and 2014. In its last 19 group games, Argentina has 14 wins, two losses and three draws.
Jordan entered the tournament as the world’s 72nd-ranked team and was outscored 8-3 while losing all games in its first World Cup appearance.
Coach Jamal Sellami spoke to that experience in his own remarks through an interpreter. “As a first participant in the World Cup. I believe that the most important thing that we can come out of in terms of lessons is for the players to have experienced firsthand what they were trained on. ” he said. “Now they are more aware of the requirements of such competition.”.
For Argentina, the momentum started with Lo Celso. Only a couple of minutes after being ruled offside when he kicked the ball in the net but not counting for a goal, he won a free kick after being tripped up just outside the penalty box by Mohannad Abutaha, who drew a yellow card.
That free kick became the first direct free kick for an Argentina goal in a World Cup since Messi against Nigeria in 2014.
Lo Celso described what it meant to score in that moment. “I waited a lot for this moment, I dreamed it a lot and I think that what I saw today was much more than what I had imagined or dreamed,” he said.
Argentina’s sequence around the penalty also had a sharp edge: after Martinez shot off the crossbar, Julian Alvarez followed with a header that was deflected by keeper Yazeed Abulaila over the net. A VAR replay showed Alvarez took a kick to the face on the play, setting up the penalty.
Team changes added another layer to the night. Nicolás Paz. who made his World Cup debut subbing in for Messi late in the 3-0 win over Algeria in the opener. made his first start in his spot this time. Paz and Lo Celso were joined by forwards Marcos Senesi and Giuliano Simeone making first World Cup starts.
Scaloni also praised Martinez’s impact, saying through an interpreter, “I didn’t have any doubts about them. Lautaro is doing amazing work. We are just so happy with him since he’s been on our squad. If you score a goal, all the better for them and all the better for the squad. We’re very happy with them.”.
For Jordan, the match ended with a single goal to chase and a group stage that never opened up. For Argentina, it ended the way it started: with rotation, precision, and Messi stepping in late to make sure the scoreline—and the statement—stayed unmistakable.
Argentina Jordan World Cup 2026 Lionel Messi Giovani Lo Celso Lautaro Martinez Emiliano Martinez Arlington Texas Group J
Messi scoring again lol.
Why did he come on in the second half if they were already winning? Seems kinda disrespectful to Jordan? But hey congrats I guess. Also that free kick goal was kinda nasty.
The article said 3-1 but I swear I heard Jordan scored twice somewhere else. Maybe it was on a replay? Not sure. Either way, changing 9 starters sounds like they were just coasting, and Messi still had to show up.
Arlington, Texas for a World Cup match is such a weird location to me. Like are they doing this on purpose to make it more American? Also Martinez scoring then subbed for Messi… classic. And the goalkeeper Emiliano being in all three games, that’s gotta be exhausting. I’m just glad Jordan got a goal at least.