Messi scores off the bench in record 7th straight World Cup game as Argentina win Group J

Lionel Messi was supposed to be resting. Instead, the Argentina captain came off the bench and curled in a trademark free kick to cap a 3-1 win over Jordan, sealing a perfect group stage for the reigning champions and adding yet another record to his collection. For more, follow the latest football news.

With Argentina already through as Group J winners, Lionel Scaloni had named Messi among the substitutes, a nod to managing minutes in a dead rubber. The game was largely settled by then anyway, two early goals having put the Albiceleste in firm control before the captain even emerged.

Giovani Lo Celso opened the scoring on 19 minutes with a fine free kick, and Lautaro Martinez doubled the lead from the penalty spot on 31. Jordan, eliminated but spirited, pulled one back through Mousa Altamari just before the hour, briefly threatening to make the closing stages awkward for a much-changed Argentina side.

Then came the moment everyone in Dallas had been waiting for. Introduced around the hour mark, Messi needed only until the 80th minute to make his mark, bending home a stunning free kick to restore Argentina's two-goal cushion and put the result beyond doubt. Even in a game that did not matter for qualification, he could not resist the spotlight.

The goal carried genuine historical weight. It took Messi to 19 goals at men's World Cups, extending his standing as the tournament's all-time leading scorer, and just as strikingly, it meant he had now scored in seven consecutive World Cup matches, a new record for the longest such streak in the competition's history.

That kind of sustained brilliance, across multiple tournaments and well into the latter stages of his career, is what sets Messi apart. To come on as a substitute in a game with nothing riding on it and still produce a piece of record-breaking quality speaks to a competitor who treats every appearance as another chance to write history.

For Argentina, the win completes a flawless group campaign, three games, three victories, and a squad that looks both deep and dangerous heading into the knockout rounds. Scaloni will be encouraged that he could rotate, rest key men, and still see his side win comfortably while his talisman stayed fresh.

The Round of 32 now awaits, and the holders arrive with momentum, balance and a captain still capable of deciding games in an instant. For every knockout tie and the shape of the bracket as it forms, keep up with the latest football news.