Messi's 18th World Cup goal breaks the record as Argentina crushes Austria

Lionel Messi did what Lionel Messi does. He waited for the moment that mattered, then bent the game to his will with his left foot and made history.

The goal came in Dallas on Tuesday — 40 years to the day after Diego Maradona's Hand of God moment against England — and it handed Messi sole possession of the World Cup's all-time scoring record. Eighteen goals. His name alone at the top now. Argentina demolished Austria 6-1, and Messi wasn't done; he added another in the dying seconds, because why not.

Early on, you'd have wondered if the script was breaking. Messi, of all people, somehow skied a penalty in the opening minutes. Miss a penalty. At a World Cup. When you're chasing history. The kind of thing that makes you think the football gods are having a laugh. But he shook it off the way he always does — like it barely happened.

Seven minutes before half-time, he got his chance again. Clinical. Left foot. Unstoppable. The record was his.

Argentina's already running away with Group J after just two matches. Messi's five goals in those games tell you everything about where this tournament's heading. If he keeps this pace, 18 might look quaint by the time the knockout rounds start. He's turning 39 on Wednesday, and instead of slowing down, he's rewriting the history books.

There was something fitting about where it happened too. Dallas is where Maradona played his last international game back in 1994, before getting banned for doping. The city had unfinished business with Argentine greatness, in a way. Messi settled that score on Tuesday night.