Lionel Messi continued his love affair of breaking records at the topmost stage. The Argentine captain needed a goal against Austria on Monday to go past the leading goal-scorer in World Cup history, Miroslav Klose.

La Pulga received an early opportunity to go past the German’s record but dropped it as he could not hit the target from a spot kick. However, Messi finally secured the record with a brilliant left-foot strike to beat the opposition’s goalkeeper on the right.

Messi also had a couple of opportunities to put Argentina in command, but he could not grab them. However, he was able to complete his brace as he scored in the stoppage time to give Argentina a 2-0 win. With this win, La Albiceleste have secured their knockout spot.

“Today there was a moment where I was very angry about the penalty because I missed it,” Messi said. “I kicked it very badly, and well, luckily we were able to turn that situation around, take the lead and get the three points, which is what’s important.”

The veteran striker admitted it was always going to be a tough game, and Austria did make them sweat hard.

“Obviously, it was in our plans to get the victory,” he said. “We knew it wouldn’t be easy, especially how the World Cup is unfolding. Every game is hard, no one gives away anything.

“It’s true that they didn’t hurt us, but it was a jammed match, very intense, where it was difficult to play. They played very fast. But the important part was classification.

Messi revealed they will not get complacent as the World Cup is a tough competition for all teams.

“It’s always in our plans to win all of our games. We are Argentina, and we look to win against every rival, but we know it’s not easy and we have to do it on the pitch — and today, Argentina did it.

“It cost us to have the long spells of possession that we wanted,” he said. “They didn’t really hurt us, but it was a very tight game and they played very quickly.”

The defending champions will play their final group stage match against Jordan on June 27.