Revealed On 17 Jun 2026
Argentina icon Lionel Messi has turn out to be essentially the most embellished participant of all time on the FIFA World Cup, scoring his maiden event hat-trick against Algeria in a match his facet received 3-0, at a private file sixth World Cup look.
The 38-year-old rewrote the historical past books from the minute he stepped onto the pitch at Kansas Metropolis Stadium for his 2 hundredth worldwide look on Tuesday night time.
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Messi turned the primary man to play in six World Cups when he was named in Argentina’s beginning XI, a file that will probably be shared by Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo on Wednesday, and Guillermo Ochoa, if the Mexican veteran goalkeeper is shipped onto the pitch through the event.
Messi’s first aim of the night time got here at 17 minutes and equalled Kylian Mbappe’s 14 goals at a World Cup, with the Frenchman having eclipsed the Argentinian simply hours earlier in France’s 3-1 win over Senegal in New York.
The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner’s fairytale begin to his sixth World Cup was barely delayed, nonetheless, when his first aim within the fourth minute was overturned by the referee.
Nonetheless, Messi labored his magic and netted to the suitable of the aim after Algerian keeper Luca Zidane provided a rebound, making it Messi’s fifteenth World Cup aim.
Messi’s decades-long legacy on the event started when, at 18 years of age, he made his World Cup debut in 2006, the identical yr that Zidane’s father, French legend Zinedine Zidane, loved his greatest run.
Whether or not it’s a poetic signal from the universe or a event scheduling coincidence, Tuesday marked precisely 20 years to the day since Messi earned his first World Cup cap for Argentina towards Serbia and Montenegro.
No sooner had Messi equalled the Brazilian Ronaldo’s file than he accomplished his hat-trick and matched Miroslav Klose’s file of 16 World Cup targets. It was additionally his a hundred and twentieth worldwide profession aim.
The Argentina captain was finally substituted with Nico Paz and walked off the pitch as the gang of practically 70,000 gave him a standing ovation after being handled to a historic night time of soccer.
Messi, who turns 39 subsequent week, was Argentina’s youngest World Cup scorer and is now the oldest World Cup hat-trick scorer, a title he snatched from Ronaldo, who he scored 3 times towards Spain in 2018.
The South American legend additionally turned the primary participant to attain in 5 consecutive World Cup matches, with the most recent being solely his first within the 2026 version.
With the defending champions launching their marketing campaign in type, Messi will get the chance to shatter extra data when Argentina tackle Austria on Monday in Dallas, earlier than dealing with Jordan of their final group sport on June 27 .
Ought to Messi lead the Albiceleste to a profitable title defence, he’ll turn out to be the primary Argentinian captain to realize the feat, one not even the nice Diego Maradona might declare.
