Argentina vs Jordan Live Score, FIFA World Cup 2026 Match Scorecard: Lionel Messi comes on as a substitute in Argentina’s final group match against Jordan

Jordan has been eliminated from the tournament, while Argentina are safely in the knockout stages.

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni hinted that Messi, who turned 39 just three days ago, might come on as a substitute for the game at AT&T Stadium.

New faces get chance

Nicolas Paez made his World Cup debut as a substitute for Messi in Argentina’s 3-0 victory over Algeria in the opening game and entered the starting lineup.

Overall, Scaloni made nine changes to the team that beat Austria 2-0 in their last game.

Messi continues to rewrite World Cup history

Messi has represented Argentina in 201 international matches, including a FIFA record 28 World Cup matches.

He scored in six consecutive World Cup games, becoming the third player to achieve the feat after French player Juste Fontaine and Brazilian legend Jairzinho.

Entering the final round of the group stage, Messi leads the tournament with five goals, which are all Argentina’s goals so far.

He scored his first World Cup hat-trick against Algeria and then scored his fifth goal in stoppage time against Austria.

record number of goals scored

Messi scored two goals against Austria, taking his total number of goals in the World Cup to 18, breaking his record of 16 goals held by German star Miroslav Klose.

This is Messi’s sixth World Cup appearance. Klose played 214 international matches in four World Cups between 2002 and 2014. His last goal in the World Cup was scored in Germany’s 1-0 victory over Argentina in the 2014 final.

Just hours after Messi broke the World Cup record, French star Kylian Mbappe scored twice in a 3-0 victory over Iraq, tying Miroslav Klose’s World Cup record of 16 goals.

Mbappe was one of several players to score four goals at this World Cup, but he failed to score in France’s 4-1 win over Norway in their final group game.

Argentina prepares to meet Cape Verde challenge

As Group J champions, Argentina will face Cape Verde in the last 32 in Miami on Friday.

It will be Cape Verde’s first appearance in a World Cup knockout round and the game will also be played at the home ground of Messi’s MLS club.