Lionel Messi is now a free man. He has been ever since he inspired Argentina to lift their third World Cup four years back in Qatar in 2022, completing the one missing piece of a career that already stood at the summit of football.

Argentina vs Austria [ Monday, 11pm, Bangladesh Time]

Lionel Messi has 16 World Cup goals in total and needs one more to become the outright all-time top-scorer in the tournament's history when the two sides meet in Texas on Monday.

Alvarez was the regular starter heading into the tournament, but Scaloni opted for Martinez - echoing their triumphant Qatar 2022 campaign, when the Inter Milan player began as first-choice striker but Alvarez took over from the third match onwards.