That was despite showing his familiar weakness from 12 yards when he missed an eighth-minute chance to cross the mark from close, which he equaled with a hat-trick against Algeria last Tuesday.
Lautaro Martínez was brought down by a combination of Stephan Poch and Xaver Schlager as he charged into the area, although referee Amin Omar needed to look at the pitchside monitor before awarding the penalty, which Messi pulled off.
This was the third World Cup penalty miss of Messi’s career, the first coming against Iceland in Russia in 2018 and the second against Poland four years later.