Lionel Messi etched his name further into football history on Tuesday, scoring a hat-trick as Argentina defeated Algeria 3-0 in their opening Group J match of the FIFA World Cup.
The Argentina captain’s three-goal performance at Kansas City Stadium saw him draw level with German great Miroslav Klose as the tournament’s all-time leading goalscorer with 16 World Cup goals.
The victory handed the defending champions a perfect start to their title defence and ended a long-standing trend of disappointing opening matches for reigning champions, following Argentina’s defeats in their first games at the 1982 and 1990 World Cups.
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The occasion was already significant for Messi, who made his 200th appearance for Argentina and became the first player in football history to feature in six FIFA World Cup tournaments.
Argentina controlled possession from the outset in a lively encounter that saw both teams have goals ruled out during the opening stages.
Messi opened the scoring in the 17th minute after linking up with Inter Miami teammate Rodrigo De Paul. The 38-year-old collected the pass and curled a superb left-footed strike beyond goalkeeper Luca Zidane, the son of French football legend Zinedine Zidane.
The goal marked another remarkable milestone, arriving exactly 20 years after Messi scored his first World Cup goal against Serbia and Montenegro during the 2006 tournament.
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Although Argentina dominated proceedings, they had to wait until the second half to increase their advantage. Messi doubled the lead shortly after the hour mark when he capitalised on a mistake by Zidane before calmly finding the back of the net.
He completed the first World Cup hat-trick of his illustrious career in the 76th minute, firing home from the edge of the penalty area after being picked out by Nicolas Gonzalez.
The achievement also made Messi the oldest player ever to score a hat-trick at a FIFA World Cup, adding yet another record to his extraordinary international career.
Algeria showed determination throughout the contest and briefly thought they had taken an early lead before seeing their effort disallowed. Argentina also survived a first-half scare when Messi escaped a booking following a challenge on defender Aissa Mandi.
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However, Lionel Scaloni’s side remained in control after the break and converted their dominance into goals to secure all three points.
The result places Argentina in a strong position in Group J as they pursue a second consecutive World Cup title, a feat achieved by only a select few nations in football history.
Having equalled Klose’s long-standing scoring record, Messi now has the opportunity to become the outright leading scorer in World Cup history when Argentina face Austria in their next group-stage match.
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