Sports desk: Lionel Messi became the World Cup’s all-time leading goalscorer on Monday to fire Argentina into the last 32 as a severe thunderstorm forced France to sit through a two-hour weather delay before joining the South Americans in the knockout rounds.
Messi, who had tied Miroslav Klose’s record of 16 goals with a brilliant hat-trick against Algeria last week, bagged the 17th and 18th goals of his World Cup career in a 2-0 win over Austria in Texas.
The eight-time Ballon D’Or winner, who turns 39 on Wednesday, had blown a chance to break the record after eight minutes when he dragged a penalty wide of the post in the Group J match.
But the Argentina skipper made no mistake seven minutes before half-time, coolly placing his finish beyond the dive of Austrian goalkeeper Alexander Schlager.
He then completed his double in the fifth minute of stoppage time to take his tally for the tournament to five goals.
Monday’s victory guarantees holders Argentina a place in the knockout rounds of the tournament, and the South Americans could clinch top spot later Monday if Jordan fail to beat Algeria.
Messi admitted he had been privately seething after missing his penalty early in the game.
“Today there was a moment where I was very angry about the penalty because I missed and I struck it very badly,” said Messi.
“Luckily we were able to turn the situation around, take the lead and take three very important points.”
Weather chaos –
France meanwhile were made to wait before booking their place in the last 32 with a weather-disrupted 3-0 win over Iraq in Philadelphia that took just under four hours to complete.
Kylian Mbappe, making his 100th appearance for France, had fired France into a 1-0 lead with a vicious long-range effort after 14 minutes that ripped past Iraq goalkeeper Ahmed Basil.
But as the half progressed, a severe thunderstorm that had prompted tournament organisers to delay opening the stadium doors to fans before kick-off rolled into the region, dumping heavy rain on the venue.
As the half-time whistle blew, fans in the 68,324-capacity Lincoln Financial Field were told to take shelter, and scrambled into the stadium concourses.
The severe weather warning prevented the match resuming after half-time, leaving the two teams to huddle in their respective locker rooms before the second half finally kicked off at approximately 8.00pm local time (0000 GMT), a delay of around two hours.
When play resumed, Mbappe grabbed his second of the match — and 16th career World Cup goal — before Ousmane Dembele added France’s third in the 66th minute.
The possibility of severe weather causing disruption to the tournament had been signalled at last year’s Club World Cup in the United States, when multiple games were interrupted for several hours.
In the most extreme example, the last-16 match between Chelsea and Benfica in Charlotte was stopped for almost three hours late in normal time.
Public safety regulations used widely in the United States mandate that play is halted whenever lightning is recorded near a stadium.
“We brought the ponchos, we were ready,” said 32-year-old France fan Steven Jouan who had travelled to Philadelphia from South Carolina with his partner for the game.
“We have been to different sporting events before so we knew that delays happen. Most of the other games get cancelled but a World Cup game, you just gotta stick it out.”
In Monday’s other Group I game, Norway can also qualify for the last 32 with a victory over Senegal at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
