Messi’s World Cup scoring streak ends, but his assist sparks Argentina’s win over Switzerland

Lionel Messi had his World Cup scoring streak snapped by Switzerland on Saturday night, but the co-leader with France’s Kylian Mbappe in the race for the Golden Boot nevertheless found his way to leave his mark with an assist in Argentina’s 3-1 victory.

The game was only in the 10th minute when Messi — who needed some help from a trainer after a blow near his right eye in the second half — helped to earn a corner kick with some nifty footwork. From there, the Inter Miami star delivered a perfect ball into the box, and Alexis Mac Allister was there to head it home for a 1-0 lead.

Switzerland equalised in the 67th minute and the game eventually went to extra time, but Julian Alvarez sent a rocket into the upper corner of the net in the 112th minute and Lautaro Martinez added a closing goal for good measure for the defending champions.

Now, Argentina will play England in the semifinals on Wednesday in Atlanta.

One of the first questions asked of Swiss coach Murat Yakin before the match was how to stop Messi, who had scored in his last nine World Cup matches, his last six in the knockout round. He also holds the tournament record with 21 career goals.

“This is a very surprising question,” Yakin replied, jokingly. “There are many solutions, and we will try to find the best solution. ... We can talk a lot about it, but in the end it has to really translate onto the pitch, and we do have our solutions.”