ARLINGTON, Texas — Lionel Messi came off the bench in the 60th minute of Argentina’s World Cup group stage finale against Jordan, celebrating his return with a stunning free kick to seal a 3-1 victory for the reigning champions, who had already wrapped up first place in the group.

The Argentina captain’s strike extended his record as the highest goalscorer in men’s World Cup history with 19 goals. It also broke the record for scoring in the most consecutive World Cup matches at seven.

It was his 72nd career goal on a free kick and 12th for Argentina. Messi now has 123 international goals — second all-time to Cristiano Ronaldo’s 145 — in 202 appearances.

The 39-year-old had been one of only three players to score in six consecutive World Cup games along with France striker Just Fontaine and Brazil great Jairzinho.

With Messi resting early, Giovani Lo Celso and Lautaro Martínez scored in the first half against a Jordan side that had already been eliminated from knockout contention.

“I am very happy for him, for the moment he is having,” Lo Celso said after becoming the first Argentine other than Messi to score in this tournament, also on a free kick in the 19th minute. “The truth is that seeing him every day excites, excites and infects a lot. So obviously seeing him like that for us is very important.”

The crowd at AT&T Stadium began chanting Messi’s name as soon as the second half started, cheering loudly even when he just stepped off the bench to warm up. The roar was deafening when he finally entered the pitch Saturday night, just three days after his 39th birthday.

Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni had previously confirmed that Messi would start on the bench before getting minutes later in the match. When his moment came in the 60th minute, Messi replaced Martinez.

Messi originally broke the 16-goal World Cup record he shared with Germany’s Miroslav Klose earlier in the tournament with a brace against Austria. Now playing in his sixth World Cup, Messi stands alone, well past Klose, whose final tournament goal came against Messi and Argentina in the 2014 final.

Kylian Mbappé briefly matched Klose’s mark of 16 with a brace in France’s 3-0 win over Iraq a few hours after Messi initially set the new record. Mbappé, who sits just behind Messi with four goals in this tournament, did not score in France’s 4-1 win over Norway in their final group match.

Argentina, the Group J winners, will now face first-time World Cup qualifiers Cape Verde in the Round of 32.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.