Angel Di Maria Pokes Fun at Lionel Messi After Record-Breaking Austria Brace
Angel Di Maria had the perfect playful reaction after Lionel Messi made more World Cup history for the Argentina national team. Argentina followed up their opening win over the Algeria national team by beating the Austria national team 2-0, a result that sent the defending champions into the round of 32. It was not the easiest night for Lionel Scaloni's side, with Austria making them work harder than the scoreline might suggest, but Messi once again found a way to decide it.
The Argentina captain scored both goals and, in the process, became the outright leader for most goals in World Cup history. After the game, Di Maria joined in the celebrations on Instagram, congratulating his former teammate while also jokingly poking fun at him with a message only someone that close to Messi could get away with.
Di Maria took to his Instagram stories to share a picture of Messi with a caption that said, "Que locura enano" which translates to "That was crazy, little man."
๐ก๐๐ช: Di Maria on IG: "That was crazy, midget. " pic.twitter.com/MyoJDCBZFq
โ The Touchline | ๐ (@TouchlineX) June 22, 2026
Messi's Argentina career has now reached the kind of place that once felt completely out of reach.
There was a time when the national team felt like the one part of his career that refused to give him peace. The club trophies were there, the individual awards were there and the genius was obvious, but Argentina kept ending in heartbreak. That is why his brief goodbye in 2016 felt so heavy. It looked like the pressure had finally won. Now, that version of the story feels like it belongs to another lifetime.
Messi has not only returned, he has turned the whole conversation around. The same player who once looked broken by near-misses is now giving Argentina one golden moment after another. The trophies changed the mood, but his latest performance showed something else too: he is still not finished.
Against Austria, even a missed penalty could not derail him. Instead of letting that moment define the night, he came back with two goals, took sole possession of the World Cup scoring record and pushed Argentina safely into the next round.
The crazy part is how normal he makes it look. He no longer needs to play at full speed every minute. He reads the game, waits for the right pockets and then strikes before defenders can react. That is why Argentina can still build so much around him. At this point, every match feels like another chance for Messi to stretch history a little further.
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This story was originally published June 22, 2026 at 8:20 PM.