Argentina had several meaningful shots in the second half but couldn't convert them into goals. In the second-half injury time (95th minute), Messi scored an additional goal to end the match 2:0. As I mentioned in another article, all 5 goals Argentina has scored so far in the group stage were scored by Messi, and if he hadn't missed a penalty kick in the first half, he would have nearly scored back-to-back hat-tricks in two consecutive matches. Looking at Messi, I wonder if there is any precedent of a thirty-eight-year-old footballer dominating the World Cup stage so vigorously. While one might think that if Argentina becomes overly dependent on Messi like this and the opposing team concentrates on tight marking him or develops countermeasures, it could become difficult, this match showed a performance befitting a defending champion.
P.S. By scoring the additional goal, Messi also broke the World Cup all-time goal-scoring record again at 18 goals. Impressive.
