Lionel Messi opened Argentina’s World Cup title defense in the most emphatic fashion possible, scoring his first ever hat-trick in the tournament to lead the defending champions to a commanding 3-0 victory over Algeria in a Group J opener at Kansas City Stadium on Tuesday.
With the milestone treble, the 38-year-old has officially tied Germany’s Miroslav Klose as the all-time leading goal scorer in FIFA World Cup history, with 16 goals.
His opening goal came exactly 20 years to the day that Messi made his World Cup debut for Argentina in a match against Serbia and Montenegro, a symmetry that seemed almost too poetic to be accidental.
The historic night got underway in the 17th minute when Rodrigo De Paul threaded a pinpoint, line-breaking through ball to find Messi in the attacking third.
Seizing the pocket of space, the Inter Miami superstar drove forward and unleashed a ferocious strike from just outside the 18-yard box, and though Algerian goalkeeper Luca Zidane managed to get a hand on the ball, the sheer power carried it into the back of the net.
Messi went on to score three times in total, with a fourth goal ruled offside, before being substituted off with ten minutes remaining meaning the outright record will have to wait for another night.
The Group J clash against Algeria also marked Messi’s 200th international appearance for Argentina , and he became only the second man in history to score at five different World Cups, joining Cristiano Ronaldo, who achieved the feat with Portugal in 2022.
Argentina are looking to become the first team since Brazil in 1962 to win back-to-back World Cups, and if this opening night performance is any indication, the 8 times ballon d’Or winner has no intention of going quietly into the twilight of his extraordinary career.
