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SI:AM | Lionel Messi Hat Trick Headlines an Especially Star-Studded World Cup Day

By Dan Gartland Sports Illustrated

Good morning, I'm Dan Gartland. I just know Cristiano Ronaldo hated seeing Lionel Messi add another chapter to his World Cup legend.

In today's SI:AM:

Messi puts on a show

England's new Golden Generation

Portugal looks to win for Ronaldo

Messi's incredible World Cup encore

Lionel Messi's still got it.

The 38-year-old GOAT added another line to his already unrivaled résumé last night with a hat trick in Argentina's World Cup opener against Algeria in Kansas City. He sniped one into the upper corner in the 17th minute, cleaned up a rebound in the 60th minute and drove home a low shot from the top of the box in the 76th minute.

"Messi doing Messi things," Algeria midfielder Ibrahim Maza said of the legend's performance. "I think I don't need to explain. You just have to watch the game, you know it when you see it, Messi things."

It was a hell of an encore for Messi after he led Argentina to victory at the last World Cup in 2022. He had his doubters ahead of that tournament in Qatar. His first season with Paris Saint-Germain in '21–22 had been underwhelming, as he scored just 11 goals in 34 matches. But he reminded people at that World Cup that he was still among the best players alive, scoring seven goals in seven games, including one in extra time in the final. Messi was similarly dismissed when he moved to MLS, which had long been considered a retirement league for European greats, but once again he showed he's still capable of greatness on the international stage.

Last night's trio of goals moved Messi into a tie with former Germany striker Miroslav Klose for most career goals scored at the World Cup (16). It seems inevitable that he will surpass Klose in the coming weeks, but he might not hold the record at the end of the tournament. France's Kylian Mbappé is right behind Messi with 14 career World Cup goals after he scored twice in his team's win over Senegal on Tuesday.

Yesterday was the most star-studded day of this World Cup yet. With Argentina, France and Norway playing their first games of the group stage yesterday, three of the greatest players in the world were in action-and all three lived up to the billing. Between Messi, Mbappé and Norway's Erling Haaland, you might not see a single day during this World Cup where there is more attacking excellence on display. Messi is an all-time great, Mbappé is a superstar in his prime who has led his league in scoring eight years in a row (six times in France's Ligue 1 with PSG and twice in Spain's La Liga with Real Madrid) and Haaland was the Premier League's leading goalscorer in three of the past four seasons.

All three stars had multi-goal games on Tuesday. In addition to Messi's hat trick and Mbappé's brace, Haaland scored twice in Norway's 4–1 win over Iraq. Three superstars, seven goals between them.

The reason people tune in to watch the World Cup-even Americans who don't otherwise pay attention to soccer-is that it's a rare opportunity to see all the best players on the planet gather in one place. Yesterday was an even rarer opportunity to see three icons of the sport all rise to the occasion and show why they've earned those reputations. And the best part is, they'll have a chance to do it again in less than a week. All three players will be back in action on Monday.

The best of Sports Illustrated

Lionel Messi showed why he's an all-time great with a stunning performance in an easy Argentina win. | Denny Medley-Imagn Images
Lionel Messi showed why he's an all-time great with a stunning performance in an easy Argentina win. | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

The top five…

… non-Messi goals from Tuesday's World Cup games: 5. A well-executed corner kick for Austria. 4. Erling Haaland's sliding effort for his first goal. (Here's another angle that better shows how tough it was to get a boot on it.) 3. Leo Østigård's soaring header to give Norway a cushion over Iraq. 2. Romano Schmid's shot into the top corner to give Austria the lead over Jordan. 1. Ali Olwan's shot that glanced perfectly off the inside of the post for Jordan's equalizer against Austria. (A Jordan own goal put Austria back ahead in the second half, and Austria put it away with a penalty late in stoppage time.)



This article was originally published on www.si.com as SI:AM | Lionel Messi Hat Trick Headlines an Especially Star-Studded World Cup Day.

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This story was originally published June 17, 2026 at 6:54 AM.

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