Argentina star Lionel Messi has broken Diego Maradona's record by scoring his ninth goal at a World Cup finals.
In his 1,000th career appearance, Messi has scored his 789th goal and his first in the knockout stages of the World Cup. His effort put Argentina 1-0 up against Australia and takes him one clear of Maradona and just one behind compatriot Gabriel Batistuta.
The Paris Saint-Germain star scored at three separate World Cups before 2022 but had never netted in a knockout game. Now, after finding the target twice in the group stages, he has finally broken his duck in the knockout stages.
Before the game, pundit Rio Ferdinand had pointed out he had a World Cup knockout game while Messi did not. The former England defender was on target in a win over Denmark at the 2002 World Cup, the tournament in which Argentina legend Batistuta scored the last of his 10 World Cup finals goals.
Messi had already scored twice at the Qatar World Cup before Argentina kicked off their last-16 clash against Australia. He netted in the defeat by Saudi Arabia and in a win over Mexico, while he saw a penalty saved by Wojciech Szczesny as Argentina beat Poland to top their group.
After a slow start to the game, it was the Paris Saint-Germain star who broke the deadlock. He collected the ball on the edge of the Australia box and fired in a low shot which beat goalkeeper Mat Ryan for pace and found the back of the net.
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If Argentina beat Australia, they will go on to face the Netherlands in the quarter-finals. The game would be a repeat of the 1998 quarters when Dennis Bergkamp struck a last-gasp winner to hand victory to the Oranje.
The Netherlands won their own last-16 tie earlier on Saturday against the United States. First-half goals from Memphis Depay and Daley Blind put Louis van Gaal's team in control, and Denzel Dumfries made victory secure after Haji Wright had pulled a goal back for the US.
Van Gaal's team remain unbeaten in the tournament, having taken seven points from their three group games before taking on Gregg Berhalter's American side. They created plenty of chances in an open game, but Messi and his teammates - if they do indeed progress - may be encouraged by the defensive uncertainty which allowed the US to threaten more than once.
While Messi has ended his knockout drought, fellow multiple Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo is still waiting for his first goal outside the group stages of the tournament. Ronaldo and his Portugal team-mates will take on Switzerland in the last 16 on Tuesday.
