Lionel Messi joined Brazil’s Neymar on top of the World Cup goalscoring charts as he netted a brace in Argentina‘s exciting 3-2 win over Nigeria in Porto Alegre on Thursday morning.

Despite the loss, Nigeria became Africa’s first and so far only representative in the round of 16, progressing after finishing second in Group F thanks to Iran’s 3-1 loss to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Angel Di Maria’s shot was pushed against the post by Nigerian keeper Vicent Enyeama, but Messi was on hand to smash home the rebound after just three minutes to open the scoring.

Nigeria hit back in thrilling fashion as forward Ahmed Musa equalised barely a minute later, but Enyeama was left flat-footed as a brilliant Messi free-kick rippled the back of the net to put Argentina back in front and give him four goals for the tournament.

Musa again equalised for his second of the match just minutes into the second half, but Argentina regained a one-goal advantage it would go on to keep when defender Marcos Rojo poked the ball home off his knee from a set piece.

Argentina will meet Switzerland, runner-up in Group E, who progressed after Xherdan Shaqiri netted an exquisite hat-trick in their 3-0 win over Honduras.

Meanwhile, Bosnia and Herzegovina beat Iran 3-1 in Salvador to record their first-ever win in the World Cup, denying Iran a place in the round of 16.

Needing to beat Bosnia and hope for Nigeria to lose to Argentina, Iran was outplayed by the Europeans as Edin Dzeko opened the scores with a classy finish from outside the box.

Miralem Pjanic curled the ball past the keeper to make it 2-0 in the second half.

Iran pulled one back in the 81st minute through Reza Ghoochannejhad, but the Asian team’s hearts were promptly broken as Bosnian right-back Avdija Vrsajevic scored barely 30 seconds later, making it 3-1 to Bosnia with a finish off the far post.

The win sees Bosnia leapfrog Iran into third place in Group F.

And France will meet Nigeria in the next phase after they coasted their way through with a scoreless draw against 10-man Ecuador at the Maracana.

While both teams had a handful of chances, the major incident of the game came when Ecuador winger Antonio Valencia was sent off for what the referee deemed was a dangerous challenge on Lucas Digne.

France edged Switzerland for top spot in Group E.