Overview
After his 61st hat-trick in his career (50 for club, 11 for national team) in the 3-0 victory over Algeria, Lionel Messi is only one goal away from Miroslav Klose's all-time scoring record at the World Cup. If he penetrates the Austrian net, the Argentine superstar will surpass the 16-goal milestone of the German legend to exclusively occupy the number one position in the tournament's scoring list.
Besides, Messi also has the opportunity to become the third player in World Cup history to score in 6 consecutive matches. Before him, only Just Fontaine of France in 1958 and Jairzinho of Brazil in 1970 did this. Messi's current scoring streak is extended from Argentina's journey to win the World Cup in Qatar 4 years ago.
Although he has turned 38, Messi's influence in Argentina's playing style has not decreased at all. In the victory over Algeria, he directly participated in 8 out of 10 shots of his team, with 6 shots and created 2 chances for his teammates.
However, not only the attack is impressive. Lionel Scaloni's team also prevented Algeria from launching any shots on target. If they defeat Austria, and Jordan does not win against Algeria, Argentina will officially win a ticket to the knockout round with the top spot in Group J and meet the second-placed team in Group H.
On the Austrian side, this team also has a chance to take the top spot if they win. However, they need to significantly improve their performance after the 3-1 victory over Jordan in the opening match.
In the match against Jordan, Austria experienced no few difficulties. After letting Ali Olwan equalize, the European team had to wait until the 76th minute to re-establish the lead thanks to Yazan Al Arab's own goal. Marko Arnautovic's late penalty only helped the score become more distant than the actual diễn biến on the field.
However, Austria's recent form is still very impressive. They are on a four-game winning streak in all competitions, and have won 10 of their last 12 matches, drawn once and only lost once. If they defeat Argentina, Austria will have their first time since the 1982 World Cup starting the tournament with two consecutive victories.
The Austrian team is still monitoring the fitness of David Alaba, Stefan Posch and Alessandro Schopf. All three have to train separately in recent days and are racing against time to recover in time.
On the Argentina side, Scaloni is said to be making some personnel adjustments. Nahuel Molina may return to the main squad after recovering from a minor muscle injury, replacing Gonzalo Montiel on the right flank.
Head-to-head record
Argentina and Austria do not have much predestined relationship in the past, with most encounters only taking place at the friendly level. The most recent meeting between the two teams was 36 years ago and ended in a 1-1 draw in Vienna.
Previously, Argentina defeated Austria 5-1 in a friendly match in 1980, a match that saw Diego Maradona score the only hat-trick in his international career.
Score prediction: Argentina 3-1 Austria
The match between Argentina and Austria takes place at 0:00 AM on June 23rd (Vietnam time).
