Lionel Scaloni made nine changes and left Lionel Messi on the bench. Argentina still won. And when Messi did come on, he made history. His 80th-minute free-kick — low, curling, perfectly placed around the defensive wall — made him the first player ever to score in seven consecutive FIFA World Cup™ matches. Argentina beat Jordan 3–1 at the Dallas Stadium, and marched into the Round of 32 with their records and their captain’s legend intact.
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A Rotated Argentina Still Run the Show
With Group J already secured and their place in the Round of 32 confirmed, Scaloni used this match to manage minutes and rotate heavily. Nine changes to the starting eleven. Messi, Rodrigo De Paul, and Julián Álvarez were all named among the substitutes. It was a statement of squad depth. What remained on the pitch was still good enough to control the tempo from the first whistle — and to punish Jordan in the moments that mattered.
The opening goal came in the 19th minute. Giovani Lo Celso earned a free-kick on the edge of the area, dusted himself off, and executed a beautifully curled strike into the top-left corner. No wall was going to stop it. No goalkeeper was getting close. A goal that showed exactly what Lo Celso can do when given the platform and the responsibility.
The second arrived twelve minutes later. A VAR review confirmed a penalty due to a foul committed inside the box, and Lautaro Martínez stepped forward and slammed a low right-footed strike into the bottom-left corner. Confident. Unhesitating. Two-nil at the break, and Argentina could afford to breathe.
Jordan Refuses to Go Quietly
Jordan had scored in both of their previous group matches and were determined to keep that record alive. Ten minutes into the second half, they did exactly that. Ehsan Haddad delivered a devastatingly low cross into the penalty area, and substitute Musa Al-Taamari arrived at the right moment to tap it past Emiliano Martínez. Dallas erupted. It was 2–1, and for a few minutes, Jordan allowed themselves to believe.
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Scaloni responded immediately. In the 60th minute, he made a triple substitution: Alexis Mac Allister, Thiago Almada, and Lionel Messi all came on together. The crowd’s reaction told you everything you needed to know about what his presence means — even in a match Argentina were already winning, even in a tournament in which he is already their leading scorer.
Messi Enters, Messi Delivers
Twenty minutes after coming on, Messi did what Messi does. Argentina won a free-kick 25 yards from the goal. He placed the ball, stepped back, and curled a low strike directly around the defensive wall and inside the far post. Yazeed Abulaila got nowhere near it. Three-one. The record was set: the first player in football history to score in seven consecutive FIFA World Cup™ matches. His sixth goal of the 2026 tournament. His story at this World Cup is nowhere near finished.
Jordan pushed forward in the final minutes, as they have done throughout this tournament, but the result was beyond doubt. The stadium gave Messi a standing ovation every time he touched the ball in those closing stages. The whistle confirmed Argentina’s passage into the Round of 32 as Group J winners, unbeaten across all three group matches and with a goal difference that underlines just how superior they have been.
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Where Both Teams Stand
Argentina advances to face Cape Verde in Miami, carrying the form and the confidence of a team that has not yet been truly tested at this tournament. Nine changes, and they still won by two goals. When they field their first-choice eleven in the knockouts, the rest of the draw will take notice.
Jordan bowed out of their first-ever FIFA World Cup™ having scored in all three group-stage appearances — a detail that speaks to the spirit and quality of a side nobody expected to compete the way they did. They leave with pride, and with a generation of young Jordanian footballers who now know exactly what is possible.
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