Argentina 2-0 Austria
Goals: 1-0 Messi 38', 2-0 Messi 90+5'
Defending champions Argentinien arrived at Dallas Stadium on the back of a 3-0 opening win over Algeria, with Lionel Messi having scored a hat-trick in that game to equal Miroslav Klose's all-time World Cup scoring record of 16 goals. Austria, meanwhile, had claimed their first World Cup victory since 1990 with a hard-fought 3-1 win over Jordan, with Bundesliga stars including Konrad Laimer, Romano Schmid, Nicolas Seiwald and Marcel Sabitzer all featuring.
The winner of this Group J encounter would be guaranteed a place in the Round of 32. Coach Ralf Rangnick made three changes to his starting line-up, bringing in Kevin Danso, Paul Wanner and Michael Gregoritsch, while Lionel Scaloni made one change for Argentina, with Nahuel Molina coming in for Gonzalo Montiel.
