Argentina captain Lionel Messi scored an impressive hat-trick to lead his team to a memorable victory over Algeria, setting another record in World Cup history.
Defending champions Argentina began their title defense by defeating Algeria in the first match of the group stage.
Messi, who played in the 200th match of his international career, scored a hat-trick for the first time in the World Cup.
The win took his World Cup goals tally to 16, tying him with former Germany striker Miroslav Klose for the top scorer in the tournament’s history.
Messi scored a beautiful goal for Argentina in the 17th minute. He capitalized on a mistake by Algerian goalkeeper Luca Zidane in the second half to score his second goal, completing his hat-trick in the 76th minute with a powerful strike.
🚨🐐 LIONEL MESSI REACHED 16 GOALS IN THE WORLD CUP! 🤯🇦🇷
He has officially passed Ronaldo Nazário (15) on the FIFA World Cup goalscoring list 😮💨🔥
⚽️ 2006 (Germany): 1 goal
⚽️ 2010 (South Africa): 0 goals
⚽️ 2014 (Brazil): 4 goals
⚽️ 2018 (Russia): 1 goal
⚽️ 2022 (Qatar): 7… pic.twitter.com/7nVsCcsvxO– The Random (@LG_Baby2023) June 17, 2026
The 38-year-old Messi also achieved the honor of becoming the first footballer to take part in six different stages of the World Cup, marking another historic milestone in the competition.
He participated in the World Cups in 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022.
