Messi’s hat-trick leads Argentina to victory over Algeria in the World Cup | World Cup 2026 news

Argentina opened its World Cup title defense with a Lionel Messi-inspired 3-0 win over Algeria in the 2026 edition.

Lionel Messi He marked a record sixth World Cup appearance with his first hat-trick in a FIFA tournament – and also became the World Cup’s top scorer – as Argentina It won over Algeria 3-0 To open the defense of their world crown.

The 38-year-old former striker thought he had opened the scoring in the eighth minute in Kansas City on Tuesday when he slotted the ball home from close range, but the flag was raised for offside.

However, the dream start to his historic debut, which Cristiano Ronaldo will equalize for Portugal against the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Wednesday, has not been denied for long.

The trademark maze was capped off with a shot on the edge of the box from that famous left foot. The force was too much for Algeria goalkeeper Luca Zidane, son of World Cup winner with France, Zinedine.

Messi doubled his tally on the hour mark with a simple pass from the goalkeeper’s rebound following a pass from Alexis McAllister.

The moment that was magical even for a player like Messi came in the 76th minute when he shot a low shot past the goalkeeper from outside the penalty area.

With this goal, Messi became equal with former Germany national team striker Miroslav Klose with 16 goals in the World Cup.

His substitution came after just three minutes to rapturous applause – even the old maestro seemed disappointed at his exit, likely relieving Argentina as they became the third team to defend their World Cup title.

Algeria – winners of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations – did not offer much, but were denied an early goal when Fares Chaybi’s ninth-minute goal was ruled out for offside.

Messi made sure that there would not be any surprising opening match in this edition, as Argentina lost its opening match in Qatar 2022 to Saudi Arabia before defeating France in the final.

The popular Argentine No.10, who spent most of his playing career in Spain with Barcelona before moving to French giants Paris Saint-Germain, is plying his trade in Major League Soccer with Inter Miami.

During the season-ending game for Miami he suffered a minor hamstring injury which slowed him down in the lead up to the World Cup. But the eight-time winner of the Ballon d’Or, which honors the best player in world football, had no problems in last week’s match against Iceland, scoring a penalty while playing for 20 minutes.

Messi’s match against Algeria was the 200th match in his international career, which began in 2005 when he was eighteen years old. The only two players who participated in a larger number are the Portuguese Ronaldo, who will play in his 229th match on Wednesday, and the Kuwaiti Badr Al-Mutawa, who played in 202 matches.

The Argentine’s hat-trick also outperformed two other major football stars – France’s Kylian Mbappe and Norway’s Erling Haaland – who had big games on Tuesday.

Mbappe scored two goals France wins 3-1 Haaland defeated Senegal earlier today and is ranked fourth on the World Cup scorers list with 14 goals, while Haaland scored two goals for Norway in their campaign. Win 4-1 Over Iraq.

Austria Won over Jordan 3-1 later Tuesday in the group’s other opener. Argentina will face Austria in its next match on Monday.