Lionel Messi scored the first goal to lead Argentina to a 2-1 victory over Australia on Saturday in the knockout stage of the World Cup in Al Rayyan, Qatar.

Argentina advances to the quarterfinals to play Friday against The Netherlands, which defeated the United States 3-1 earlier in the day.

Messi tallied in the 35th minute and Julian Alvarez scored in the 57th to give Argentina a 2-0 lead until late. Australia finally got on the board thanks to an Enzo Fernandez own goal in the 77th minute.

"I am very happy for taking another step forward, achieving another objective," Messi said. "It was a very strong and difficult match -- we knew it was going to be this way."

--Field Level Media