Argentina faced Austria in the second stage of the group phase at the 2026 World Cup, where Lionel Messi missed a penalty just nine minutes into the match.
The penalty was awarded following a VAR intervention after a duel in which Lautaro Martinez was fouled in the box by Posch and Schlager. Egyptian referee Omar Artan pointed to the spot after reviewing the incident.
Lionel Messi’s Negative Record at World Cups
As Argentina’s captain, Messi took responsibility for the penalty but sent the ball wide of the goal defended by Schlager, missing the chance to open the scoring.
With this miss, Messi became the first player in history to fail to convert a penalty in three consecutive World Cups, a negative milestone recorded in the competition’s statistics since 1966.
- 2018 vs Iceland
- 2022 vs Poland
- 2026 vs Austria
Additionally, the Argentine surpassed Asamoah Gyan, who previously held the record for missed penalties in World Cup finals with two.
Twenty-nine minutes later, Messi scored and became the all-time leading goalscorer in World Cup history. Following his hat-trick in the 3-0 victory over Algeria, he equaled Miroslav Klose with 16 goals, and now holds 17.
- Lionel Messi – 17
- Miroslav Klose – 16
- Ronaldo Nazario – 15
- Gerd Muller – 14
- Kylian Mbappe – 14
- Just Fontaine – 13
- Pele – 12
Argentina’s final match in Group J of the 2026 World Cup is against Jordan, scheduled for June 28 at 05:00 local time.
“It will be a difficult World Cup. Even if you have had a great game, you need to pinpoint something that wasn’t great. I think, logically, every coach does that. Like any team, we have our weaknesses and hope our opponents won’t discover them.” – Lionel Scaloni, Argentina’s coach
