Lionel Messi made history on Tuesday night as he scored a brilliant hat-trick to help Argentina beat Algeria 3-0 in their opening match of the FIFA World Cup 2026. The 38-year-old captain led the defending champions to a strong start in Group J at Kansas City Stadium.
Messi opened the scoring in the 17th minute. He added his second goal around the 60th minute after capitalising on a mistake by the Algerian defence. He completed his first-ever World Cup hat-trick with a powerful strike in the 76th minute. This performance took his total World Cup goals to 16, equalling Germany’s Miroslav Klose for the record.
At 38, Messi became the oldest player to score a hat-trick in World Cup history. It was also his first in the tournament across six appearances. The win marked Argentina’s strong title defence after winning in 2022. Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez kept a clean sheet as Algeria failed to score despite some good efforts.
Fans and football stars worldwide praised Messi’s magic. This result puts Argentina in a good position to advance from the group stage. Messi, playing his 200th game for Argentina, showed that age is just a number. The world now waits to see if he can break the record and lead his team to another World Cup glory.
