Argentina men’s national football team captain Lionel Messi said the team “always goes out to win” regardless of the opponent, and admitted he’s thrilled to have secured qualification to the World Cup 2026 knockout stages as it means “a quieter week” for the squad.
The Albiceceste beat Austria 2-0 in its second group stage match of the tournament, enough to see them off to the round of 32, where they’ll face off against the second-placed team in Group H — currently Uruguay.
“I’m very happy for the win,” said Messi. “We knew it was going to be a tough match, where we couldn’t allow ourselves to relax at any point because they work very hard.
The Argentine captain said “nobody is gifting anything” in this World Cup, which has seen favorites like Brazil, Spain and Portugal drop points to underdogs such as Morocco, Cape Verde and RD Congo respectively.
“This match was like that, it was very hard fought and we struggled to play our game,” added Messi. “The key was to secure qualification. We’re Argentina and we always go out to win against anyone, but we knew it wasn’t going to be easy.”
