Lionel Messi his first hat-trick of World Cup history
With this hat-trick he equals Miroslav Klosee's as the competition's all-time leading scorer
Argentina beat Algeria by 3-0 in their opening match of FIFA World Cup 2026
Lionel Messi starred in front of a packed Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City on Tuesday as Argentina began their title defence with a dominant 3-0 victory over Algeria in a Group J encounter.
The Argentine captain scored his first World Cup hat-trick to take his tally to 16 tournament goals, drawing level with Miroslav Klose as the competition's all-time leading scorer.
Before the match, Messi with 13 goals was tied with France's Just Fontaine but only in a span of one game, he reached the top equaling Germany's Klose. Here's the updated list the of leading scorers in World Cup:
16 Miroslav Klose, Germany
16 Lionel Messi, Argentina
15 Ronaldo, Brazil
14 Gerd Müller, West Germany
14 Kylian Mbappé, France
13 Just Fontaine, France
12 Pelé, Brazil
11 Sándor Kocsis, Hungary
11 Jürgen Klinsmann, West Germany
Lionel Messi has now scored in five consecutive World Cup matches stretching back to 2022, leaving him just one game short of equalling the tournament record jointly held by Just Fontaine and Jairzinho.
This was Messi's 200th match for Argentina, making him the only South American player and third overall to achieve this feat. Messi started his journey in international football back in 2005 at the age of 15, and now he's only third to Bader al-Mutawa, who featured in 202 matches for Kuwait, and Cristiano Ronaldo, who'll play his 229th match on Wednesday.
Messi was in charge from the outset as he scored the first goal of the match in the 17th minute, as he collected the ball in midfield and fired a powerful strike from some distance, brushing the fingertips of the goalkeeper, Luca Zidane, before finishing into the top corner of the post. The second came early in the second half, and the last one just minutes before he was subbed out of the stadium amid rousing applause.
Argentine coach Lionel Scaloni was all praise for Messi after the match. “At a loss for words about Leo. What can I say? He’s incredible,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said. “Everyone in football wants to see him and enjoys it.”
