Key events<\/p>\n
23 mins: Stefan Posch, like his right-back counterpart from England Djed Spence, is wearing a chin protector. Quite scary, those things.<\/p>\n
Sabitzer pings a low shot into bodies after arriving late in the box and Austria<\/a> have the game\u2019s first corner. They\u2019re doing OK, the European side.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 21 mins: Nobody can keep hold of the ball, or avoid making a foul, for more than 30 seconds in this game. The ref might start handing his cards out soon.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 19 mins: Magnificent feet from Messi and Argentina<\/a> and their star man nearly have their goal. Schlager in the Austrian net smothers it to safety.<\/p>\n It was flicked into his path by Lautaro \u2013 the first real sense that the strike pair are dovetailing together.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 16 mins: I know this is an obvious thing to say at this stage in his career, but Messi offers so little in defence it\u2019s frightening. Austria<\/a> are so different \u2013 every man is engaged in a pretty fierce press.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 15 mins: Marcel Sabitzer, winning his 100th Austria<\/a> cap today, whips in the delivery from the left, low, but it\u2019s at the near post and easily scuffed clear.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 14 mins: Austria are enjoying their best spell at the moment. Danso is putting himself about from centre-back and Argentina<\/a> are struggling to escape, making a number of fouls. Wanner is tripped by Molina on the left-hand edge of the area.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 11 mins: Speaking of Messi \u2026 this game has been very messy since it restarted after the penalty. Austria<\/a> need to calm down and get a foothold in it.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 10 mins: It was a horribly taken spot-kick by the great man, shanked well wide after a stuttery slow run-up. Maybe that\u2019s justice, as the penalty decision seemed a little harsh on Austria<\/a>.<\/p>\n Take a breath everyone. One we go.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>PENALTY MISS! (Messi, 9)<\/p>\n Lionel Messi steps up to the spot with the chance to create history. Can he surpass Miroslav Klose as the World Cup\u2019s all-time top scorer?<\/p>\n With one sweep of that famous left foot, Messi misses the target! Good grief.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n I wonder who will be taking this penalty?<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n PENALTY TO ARGENTINA! After a long old wait, the referee is sent across to the screen to review his decision. It\u2019s a funny one as one of the sliding Austrian defenders got a touch on the ball but the other brought Lautaro Martinez down. Given it!<\/p>\n Argentina’s Lautaro Martinez is fouled by Austria’s Xaver Schlager and Stefan Posch resulting in a penalty. Photograph: Issei Kato\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a013.10 EDT<\/p>\n VAR CHECK: Amin Mohamed Omar didn\u2019t give the penalty but the video assistants want a look at this one.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 5 mins: Lovely play from Molina at right-back gets Argentina<\/a> going. It was a delicious flick and run and the sequence ended with Lautaro going down in the box after Messi\u2019s through-ball. The referee does nothing other than to stop play to check Lautaro is OK.<\/p>\n It didn\u2019t look like a penalty to me. Two Austrian players, Posch and Schlager, slid in.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 3 mins: Almada can only find the side netting with an early effort, as the teams get to grips with each other. High pressing on both sides so far.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 1 min: I still don\u2019t think we\u2019ve had a game in this tournament that\u2019s kicked off on time. This was pretty close to it, in fairness. Messi starts the game with a little stroll up the pitch. No wasting energy at this stage.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>KICK OFF<\/p>\n Let\u2019s goooooo.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The stadium is mostly full of Argentina<\/a> fans and they\u2019re making an almighty noise. It\u2019s hard not to paint this as an occasion that\u2019s all about Lionel Messi \u2026 but plenty will have come just to see him play today. Kick-off next.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Here come the teams out of the tunnel and the pre-match pomp and ceremony is beginning, anthems et al.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n A Messi-related email has landed from David Wall:<\/p>\n double quotation markI\u2019ve got to take issue with your description of Messi\u2019s hat-trick in the opening game as brilliant. I\u2019ll give you the third was high quality but the other two were pretty much chucked in by the Algerian goalkeeper. It\u2019s the lowest value World Cup hat-trick since Harry Kane\u2019s in 2018 against Panama (one header from about six yards, one penalty, and one that deflected off his heel when he was trying to get out of the way). Add in the fact that he was incredibly fortunate not to be sent off (presumably the VAR trained on footage from one of those old-fashioned all-village kickabouts), and I thought the hype about his performance was massively over the top. If Argentina are going to continue with their approach of tailoring the team to get the most out of Messi (even though Juli\u00e1n \u00c1lvarez is a much more effective forward now) then he\u2019ll need to do a lot more than he showed against Algeria if they\u2019re going to retain the trophy.<\/p>\n Lionel Messi overhyped?! Surely not.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The BBC commentary team on duty for this game (for UK viewers), Steve Bower and Danny Murphy, are perched up high in the Dallas Stadium wearing what seems like a polo shirt uniform.<\/p>\n \u201cAustria are going to be high-energy,\u201d is Murphy\u2019s pearl of wisdom, also believing \u201cArgentina are going to try and find Messi\u201d with the ball. Take from that what you will.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Please sit down with a cold beverage and enjoy Nick Ames\u2019 preview of the game. I particularly enjoyed this passage.<\/p>\n double quotation markThe scene is set for Messi to imbue the date with fresh significance. Scaloni was asked what he would wish for his captain, who is competing here while his father, Jorge, undergoes medical treatment<\/a>, when he turned 39 on Wednesday. \u201cMy wish is for him to be happy,\u201d he said. Messi and Argentina, both in radiant form, aim to continue bringing the joy.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Conceding a goal to Jordan \u2013 ranked 68th in the world \u2013 probably isn\u2019t filling Austrian fans with confidence ahead of facing Lionel Messi, who will surely become the World Cup\u2019s most prolific goalscorer sooner rather than later. No offence to Jordan, but this is Messi we\u2019re talking about here.<\/p>\n I guess the question for Argentina<\/a> is where their goals come from if Messi has an off day. Lautaro Mart\u00ednez can be profligate, missing as often as scoring, and the 4-4-2 shape that Lionel Scaloni likes can make it hard for the midfielders to get in on the scoring action. Thiago Almada will have to provide a threat from the left, but the Atl\u00e9tico Madrid wideman only managed four goals and two assists across 40 club appearances in all competitions in the season just gone.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Romano Schmid may not have been a name familiar to many outside Austria and Germany before this World Cup<\/a>, but he got his nation\u2019s tournament off to an eye-catching start with a stellar strike from distance against Jordan. He starts on the right-wing today.<\/p>\n Romano Schmid player profile<\/a>Share<\/a><\/p>\n Swot up on Austria before the game with our handy team guide. Led by Ralf Rangnick, the high priest of high pressing himself, they are a super solid outfit, keen to enjoy their first World Cup<\/a> since 1998 after qualifying for three successive European Championships.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n While we\u2019re counting down to kick-off, I will share the official Austria World Cup<\/a> anthem, which my colleague Daniel Harris shared with me. It\u2019s an absolute bop in fairness.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Team news<\/p>\n Argentina: E.Mart\u00ednez; Molina, Romero, Lisandro Mart\u00ednez, Medina; De Paul, Mac Allister, Fern\u00e1ndez, Almada; Messi, Lautaro Mart\u00ednez.<\/p>\n Subs: Musso, Senesi, Tagliafico, Montiel, Paredes, Barco, \u00c1lvarez, Lo Celso, Rulli, Palacios, Gonz\u00e1lez, Simeone, Paz, Otamendi, Lopez.<\/p>\n Austria: A.Schlager; Posch, Danso, Alaba, Laimer; Seiwald, X.Schlager; Schmid, Sabitzer, Wanner; Gregoritsch.<\/p>\n Subs: Affengruber, Arnautovi\u0107, Grillitsch, Wiegele, Pentz, Kalajdzic, Lienhart, Mwene, Chukwuemeka, Ljubicic, Wimmer, Prass, Friedl, Svoboda, Schopf.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a011.55 EDT<\/p>\n Austria\u2019s rivalry with Germany is such that they may not be too upset if Messi scores today \u2026 as he will surpass Miroslav Klose\u2019s World Cup<\/a> scoring record. Then-again, there is a big German flavour to this Austrian side with Rangnick in charge and of course many of their players based in the German Bundesliga.<\/p>\n Aside from conceding a sloppy goal to tournament debutants Jordan, Austria<\/a> were fairly impressive in their first group outing. Defeat today. however, would set up a nervy final game against Algeria, where qualification for the knockout rounds will likely be on the line. The two other Group J teams meet in several hours\u2019 time in San Francisco.<\/p>\n Those of a Manchester United persuasion may want to look away \u2026 Ralf Rangnick speaking at a press conference klaxon. Photograph: Wu Zhizhao\/VCG\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a>Preamble<\/p>\n Hello and welcome to Monday\u2019s first hit of World Cup<\/a> action. The holders are in Texas to take on Ralf Rangnick\u2019s Austria in a game that will probably decide who tops Group J. All the focus will be on Argentina and Lionel Messi after his brilliant hat-trick in their opener against Algeria last week. Just one goal today will mean he is out on his own as the World Cup\u2019s all-time leading scorer.<\/p>\n It has been a complicated couple of weeks for Messi, whose family confirmed last Thursday that his father Jorge is undergoing medical treatment for an undisclosed illness. An Argentinian TV host resigned after falsely reporting that Jorge, 68, had died. Messi was tearful at times in the opener in Kansas City but he has the chance to make more history in Dallas today.<\/p>\n Austria have a legendary veteran forward of their own in Marko Arnautovic, who finally got on the scoresheet 112 minutes into their opening 3-1 win over Jordan. After coming off the bench at half-time, the 37-year-old had a goal disallowed and caused an own goal before converting a late penalty to seal the points.<\/p>\n Kick-off at Dallas Stadium is noon local time, 6pm BST and 3am AEST. Feel free to get in touch with me via email<\/a>.<\/p>\n