Lionel Messi of Argentina celebrates his second goal during their Group J match against Austria at the 2026 FIFA World Cup at Dallas Stadium in Dallas, the United States, June 22, 2026. (Xinhua/Jia Haocheng)DALLAS, June 22 (Xinhua) -- After missing a penalty early in the match, Lionel Messi scored twice as defending champion Argentina eased past Austria 2-0 on Monday to reach the World Cup knockout stage.Messi's goals took his World Cup tally to 18, moving him past Germany's Miroslav Klose to become the tournament's all-time leading scorer.Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland also continued their strong form as some of football's biggest stars lit up the second round of group-stage action and helped their teams advance.At Dallas Stadium, Messi scored in the 38th minute after missing an earlier penalty, surpassing Klose's World Cup scoring record. The 38-year-old added his second in the 95th minute, moving temporarily to the top of the tournament scoring chart with five goals.In Group J's other fixture, Algeria beat Jordan 2-1.Nabil Bentaleb of Algeria celebrates the goal of Amine Gouiri during their Group J match against Jordan at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium in San Francisco, the United States, June 22, 2026. (Photo by Sun Yuxuan/Xinhua)In Group I, Mbappe scored twice to draw level with Klose on 16 World Cup goals as France beat Iraq 3-0 to continue its pursuit of a third World Cup title.The second half of the match was delayed by about two hours because of a thunderstorm. Last year's Ballon d'Or winner, Ousmane Dembele, also scored for France.Kylian Mbappe (R) of France celebrates scoring during their Group I match against Iraq at Philadelphia Stadium in Philadelphia, the United States, June 22, 2026. (Xinhua/Hu Xingyu)Also in the group, Norway beat Senegal 3-2. Haaland continued to shine in his first World Cup, scoring twice after teammate Marcus Pedersen's opener to secure three points for Norway, while Senegal's Ismaila Sarr also scored twice.Erling Haaland (top) of Norway fights for a header during their Group I match against Senegal at New York New Jersey Stadium, the United States, June 22, 2026. (Xinhua/Cao Can)Group-stage action continues on Tuesday, with Portugal facing Uzbekistan and Colombia taking on DR Congo in Group K. In Group L, England meets Ghana while Panama plays Croatia. ■