Messi makes history, gets hat trick for Argentina in 3-0 World Cup win vs. Algeria
Lionel Messi, a week shy of his 39th birthday and the only man to play in six World Cups, proved without a doubt that he still lives up to the hype and can create magic on the sport’s biggest stage.
The Inter Miami captain scored a hat trick for defending World Cup champion Argentina in a 3-0 rout of Algeria in their tournament opener late Tuesday night.
With the three goals, he tied Germany’s Miroslav Klose for the all-time World Cup scoring record of 16 goals. It was Messi’s first hat trick in a World Cup, and it came 20 years to the day since he scored his first World Cup goal at age 18.
On Tuesday night, a few minutes after having an early goal nullified by an offside flag, Messi scored a sublime goal in the 17th minute to give Argentina the lead in the match at an Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
He was just getting started.
He doubled the lead at the 60-minute mark and completed the hat trick in the 76th minute, delighting the crowd of 69,000 at the stadium and setting off massive celebrations in Buenos Aires and everywhere else Messi fans had gathered around the world, including at the Miami FIFA Fan Fest at Bayfront Park in downtown, where thousands of fans in Messi shirts watched the match on giant screens.
“I can’t ask for anything more, God has given me too much, and now it’s just a matter of enjoying,” Messi told reporters after the game. “I don’t look if I’m first, second or third. It’s an honor to be considered one of the best in history, impressive with so many great players who have played football over all the years. To be named among the best is incredible. The people always pick, one is best or the other, but a statistic doesn’t change me. I’m just grateful to have what I have received.”
Messi’s Inter Miami teammate Rodrigo De Paul delivered the assist on the opening goal with a perfectly paced pass right up the middle of the field that sliced through the Algerian midfield and defensive lines.
Messi then pushed it up and launched an unstoppable left-footed arcing shot that skimmed the gloves of Algeria goalkeeper Luca (son of Zinedine) Zidane and into the top right corner. He broke into a huge smile, and extended his arms in jubilation.
The stadium, filled almost entirely with Argentina fans, most of them in Messi No. 10 jerseys, erupted as their hero scored in his fifth World Cup in a row.
His second goal of the night came when the always opportunistic Messi, seeing plays before they happen, raced toward the ball as it spilled off Zidane’s gloves and knocked it in. And the third was an easy left-footed shot from the center of the box.
His hat trick came 20 years after his first World Cup goal in his debut on June 16, 2006, at age 18.
He came on as a 74th-minute substitute for Maxi Rodríguez in that game, a 6-0 win over Serbia and Montenegro. Messi scored the final goal of the match in the 88th minute, becoming the youngest Argentine player ever to score in a World Cup.
There was some question whether Messi would start Tuesday’s game, as he was coming off a hamstring injury he suffered during Inter Miami’s May 24 win over the Philadelphia Union. But he was clearly recovered, dialed in and enjoying the night from the moment he emerged from tunnel to the deafening roar of the crowd.
“MLS connection right off the bat for Argentina, Rodrigo De Paul breaking lines right to Messi, and he just smacks it,” said FOX analyst Alexi Lalas.
“He is a nightmare for his opponents,” added FOX commentator Clarence Seedorf. “This is why we come here, this is why this guy has been so special. I don’t have words to describe what I witnessed today. The calmness in every action, the awareness of what’s going to happen. And then the last goal, it was a perfect example of that.”
Messi was subbed off in the 80th minute and the crowd gave him a rousing ovation.
Two of the sport’s younger superstars, France’s 27-year-old Kylian Mbappe and Norway’s 25-year-old Erling Haaland scored braces earlier in the day. Messi, known to love a challenge, one-upped them and quieted any skeptics who thought he had lost his touch.
Argentina’s passionate fans had flooded Kansas City in the days leading up to the game, as the team has its World Cup base camp there. They packed local parks, streets and shopping areas with their “banderazos” (pep rallies) as light blue and white replaced the Chiefs’ red and gold as the colors of choice.
Once Tuesday’s game began, they serenaded Messi and his teammates with “Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole, Ola, Cada Dia Te Quiero Mas” (Every Day I Love You More). The love only grew with each of Messi’s brilliant strikes. And the World Cup has just begun.
This story was originally published June 16, 2026 at 7:39 PM with the headline "Messi makes history, gets hat trick for Argentina in 3-0 World Cup win vs. Algeria."