Lionel Messi scores a goal in his 1,000th game and Argentina advances to the quarterfinals of the World Cup in Qatar 2022

This is how Messi has done in the World Cups 1:55

(CNN) --

Despite a rebound that gave Australia a goal in the second half of the game and seemed to ignite the Oceania team's offense, Argentina still managed to prevail 2-1 in the round of 16 match. which was played this Saturday in Qatar.

In the 35th minute, Lionel Messi scored his first goal in the round of 16 stage.

With the goal, Messi, 35, now surpasses Diego Maradona (8 goals) as the second best player of all time for "La Albiceleste" in the World Cup.

He is only behind Gabriel Batistuta (10 goals).

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Messi, a seven-time Ballon d'Or winner, is also tied with five in the World Cup Golden Boot race for the most goals scored in the tournament.

This Saturday was the 1,000th game of the Argentine star's professional career.

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This victory, which also featured a goal by Julián Álvarez in the second half, keeps Messi's World Cup dream alive, in what will probably be his last World Cup.

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The three Argentine players with the best performance in the match, according to DataFactory statistics, were Nicolás Otamendi, Messi and the goalkeeper, Emiliano 'Dibu' Martínez, who with just two minutes remaining in additional time made the save of the match.

(Credit: Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images)

Argentina will face the Netherlands in the quarterfinals next Friday, after the European team defeated the United States 3-1 in their own round of 16 match.

Giving "every last drop of sweat"

The technical director of the Argentine team, Lionel Scaloni, offered a press conference after the victory in which he evaluated the performance of his team.

"It was a difficult match, they put suffocating pressure on us. It cost us, especially in the first half. At half-time we corrected and I think the team didn't deserve to suffer in the last few minutes, we had to widen the difference," he said, quoted by the Twitter account of the Argentine team.

He also recognized Lionel Messi: "He opened the game and then we improved."

"We had situations to not end this way. Soccer has these things, it is spending moments, moments where you have to go to war, give every last drop of sweat," he said.

Messi also spoke after the match at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium, in Al-Rayyan, and said he was "very happy to have achieved one more goal, to take one more step towards the goal."

In addition, the number 10 explained that the group was concerned about the short recovery time they had had between games, after winning against Poland on Wednesday.

"We didn't have a lot of rest time, we were worried about that because we knew it was going to be a very physical game," he told reporters.

"We were able to take the lead, score the second and control the game. They marked us and made it a bit difficult for us at the end, but this is a World Cup and that's how it is," the Paris Saint Germain player also said about the rebound from the Australians who it was a goal during the second half.

With information from Sofía Benavides and Ángela Reyes of CNN en Español.

Lionel MessiArgentina national team