By Opta Analyst | Created at 2026-06-17 09:20:05 | Updated at 2026-06-17 13:17:31
4 hours ago
Lionel Messi’s brilliance showed no sign of fading as Argentina kicked off their World Cup defence against Algeria. The 38-year-old scored all three goals in a historic victory that saw him equal the all-time World Cup scoring record and set several new records of his own.
What more is there to say about the man who has pretty much completed football?
Three and a half years ago, it felt as though Lionel Messi had signed off his glittering career on the highest possible note. By leading Argentina to glory at the 2022 World Cup, he finally added the one trophy that had eluded him to an already overflowing collection of honours.
There was a sense that Qatar was the perfect ending. The final goodbye. The biggest unanswered question of his career had been settled emphatically, and the world had witnessed Messi’s last act on football’s grandest stage.
But Messi must not have read the same script that everyone else did. He’s now at a record-breaking sixth World Cup, and against Algeria in Argentina’s opening match of the 2026 edition, the 38-year-old was once again at his mesmerising best. He scored the first World Cup hat-trick of his remarkable career as the defending champions began their title defence with a 3-0 victory.
You’d be hard pressed to find a more Messi-like hat-trick, too.
The first was a ferocious left-footed strike from 20 yards that arrowed into the top corner. The second was a deceptively simple right-footed tap-in, wrong-footing the goalkeeper by placing the ball into the opposite corner from where most forwards would have aimed.
The third was quintessential Messi: receiving possession on the edge of the penalty area, shifting onto his left foot with a series of subtle feints, and curling an unstoppable low shot into the bottom-left corner.
Goal number three on the night was Messi’s 16th career World Cup goal, drawing him level with Miroslav Klose as the joint-highest scorer in the tournament’s history. With the 2026 World Cup only just under way, he now needs just one more goal to hold the record outright (assuming Kylian Mbappé doesn’t get there first…).
The hat-trick also made Messi the oldest player ever to score three goals in a World Cup match. He achieved the feat aged 38 years and 357 days, surpassing the previous record held by long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo, who was 33 years and 130 days old when he scored a treble against Spain at the 2018 World Cup.
The milestone came in Messi’s 200th appearance for Argentina and in his first World Cup match since scoring twice in the iconic 2022 final against France.
There were more records that tumbled, too. Messi became the first Argentine player to score in five consecutive World Cup matches, going past Hernán Crespo and Guillermo Stábile, who had each previously scored in four straight games. It was also the 11th hat-trick of his international career and the 61st across club and country.
Despite Messi’s unmistakable success on the club stage, for much of his career the World Cup was seen as the one arena in which he had not consistently produced his very best. Now, in the twilight of his playing days (at least, we think he is…), he is very much making up for any apparent lost time.
Messi has contributed to 10 goals in his last five World Cup appearances (eight goals, two assists), while an astonishing 10 of his 16 World Cup goals have come since turning 35 years old.
Argentina, meanwhile, looked every inch the reigning champions. Ten members of their starting XI against Algeria were part of the squad who lifted the trophy in Qatar, while nine featured in the final victory over France, six of them from the start.
Whether Argentina can successfully defend their crown remains uncertain. Retaining a World Cup is among the most difficult achievements in sport and has not been done by a men’s team since Brazil in 1962. Yet with Messi still capable of producing performances like this, anything feels possible.
Manager Lionel Scaloni certainly believes so.
“I have no words for Leo, he has been doing it for 20 years. What he does and transmits is incredible,” the Argentina coach told TyC Sports after the match.
“In addition to scoring three goals, Messi put the team on his shoulder and, until he wants to, he will be the best.
“It’s exciting to see him, for Argentines and anyone who likes football, at almost 39 years old. It’s difficult to explain.”
Messi may now be playing in Major League Soccer with Inter Miami, away from the weekly spotlight of European football, but 20 years after making his World Cup debut, he is still breaking records, still deciding matches, and making the impossible feel routine.
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