Messi reaches 1,000 matches mark during his career at World Cup 

Argentina legend Messi joined a select group of elite players in history with 1,000 official matches played in their professional career. Argentina won the match thanks in part to a goal by Messi, who opened for his country Albiceleste who hung on for the 2-1 win against Australia on Saturday. Messi put Argentina ahead with his third goal at this year’s tournament and ninth in total at the World Cup in the 34th minute — one more than Diego Maradona. The Paris Saint-Germain star played 169 matches for the Argentine national team, during which he scored 94 goals, in addition to 53 assists. Messi featured in 778 matches with the Spanish Barcelona jersey, scoring 672 goals and 303 assists, and with Paris Saint-Germain, he played 53 matches, scoring 23 goals and providing 29 assists.
Messi reacted on his 1,000th match, saying: "I found out today that it was the 1,000th match in my career. I didn't know. In any case, I'm more than happy because we made a little step forward to the quarter-finals."
The South American side will now move on to face the Netherlands in the quarterfinals.