World Cup
Advertisement
live
Updated
Lionel Messi scored his first World Cup hat-trick in a virtuoso performance as Argentina eased past Algeria in Group J.
Messi, who became the first man to play at six World Cups, netted all three of his side's goals on a famous night in Kansas City, Missouri.
It was a vintage hat-trick; the first was a brilliant strike from range, the second a sharp response to a poor parry from goalkeeper Luca Zidane and the third a pinpoint finish into the bottom corner.
Messi has gone level with Germany's Miroslav Klose as the joint-leading goalscorer in men's World Cup history with 16 goals.
The pressure is now very real for Cristiano Ronaldo to perform at the same level as Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland.
If competition fuels Ronaldo, this is about as real as it gets.
No bigger stage.
Next for Algeria comes a test against Jordan on Monday 22 June at 11pm ET, 8pm PT.
They will play in San Francisco for that one.
Argentina will be raring to go for their next World Cup match, which will see them play Austria on Monday 22 June in Dallas.
That match kicks off at 1pm ET, 10am PT.
It’s hard to quantify these things but there won’t have been many better single World Cup days than this one.
You haven’t been able to take eyes of it at any stage.
That was the first time in World Cup history that Algeria failed to register a shot on target.
Harsh luck after their opening goal was ruled out for offside and they never got another sniff of goal.
Remember all that talk about 2022 being Lionel Messi’s last chance to win a World Cup for Argentina?
It was a brilliant narrative that underpinned the entire tournament and gave each Argentina match an added sense of gravitas and drama after their opening loss against Saudi Arabia.
Of course, that was especially true for that all-time classic of a World Cup final against France. It also made a lot of sense, given that Messi was 35 years old at the time, usually the tail-end of the prime of a footballer’s career.
But as he showed us for the 824,125th time tonight, Messi is no ordinary footballer. And it’s not like the team around him has changed from that triumph four years ago.
Aside from Angel Di Maria, the entire core of that Argentina squad that won it all in 2022 is fit and active around Messi, including players like Alexis Mac Allister, Enzo Fernandez and Julian Alvarez.
Messi did not just provide another unforgettable moment in a career full of them tonight. He also served notice that Argentina are very much a threat to defend their World Cup trophy.
Want to know just how good Lionel Messi was tonight?
Need to know whether Argentina stand a chance of retaining their World Cup title?
Lucky for you, the latest edition of The Briefing has just dropped with expert analysis from our team of writers.
You can take a look on the link below.
GO FURTHER
A magical Lionel Messi hat-trick as Argentina beat Algeria — but should he have been sent off?
We have one more match to bring you from a stellar day of World Cup action and you can follow coverage live right here on The Athletic.
The remaining teams in Group I, along with Argentina and Algeria, are in action right now in San Francisco — it’s Austria vs Jordan and you can follow along right here.
And there's just been a goal…
Algeria coach Vladimir Petkovic on the Lionel Messi challenge which avoided a red card: “It's pointless commenting on hypothetical situations, but everyone saw it, including me.”
There’s still another match to be played in the first round of Group J fixtures but for now, things are looking pretty good for Argentina.
The pantheon of sporting greats is dominated by larger-than-life athletes and personalities, towering figures born to dominate and transcend the sporting landscape: Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Michael Phelps, Tom Brady, Usain Bolt.
In that context, it feels all the more remarkable to say that Lionel Messi, in our view the greatest of all time, is someone who needed growth-hormone treatment to reach a height of 5’7”, an introvert who regards fame and celebrity as the downside of his genius.
Lionel Messi doesn’t look like a megastar. At one stage, he barely looked like a footballer. Emerging from Barcelona’s academy as a 17-year-old, there was a profound teenage awkwardness about him.
Seriously? Him?
Then you saw him with the ball at his feet and he took your breath away. The waif with the lank hair and the blank stare played football like you would not believe.
As manager Pep Guardiola once said, “Don’t try to explain Messi, don’t try to write about him, don’t try to describe him. Watch him!”
Seriously. Him.
The Athletic has published excerpted chapters from The Soccer 100, our definitive book on the 100 greatest players of all time.
And Kansas City Chiefs' superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes from the NFL has added his thoughts on Lionel Messi's performance too.
Mahomes, who was in attendance at Arrowhead Stadium today in the Kansas City, Missouri venue where the Chiefs play their matches, simply posted three goat emojis.
As in Greatest Of All Time.
Thomas Muller — a former World Cup winner himself — is the latest person to praise Messi tonight.
“This guy 🐐”, he wrote on Instagram overlaid on a photo of the two of them playing against each other in MLS.
I feel sorry for the entirety of the Algeria team for having to play against Lionel Messi this evening.
You know who I don't feel sorry for? The people in charge of picking tonight's Player of the Match award.
Simply no other alternative.
Four words from Erling Haaland who, it’s fair to say, does not mind being upstaged by Lionel Messi today.
Posting on Snapchat, still in his Norway gear and on a flight after his side’s 4-1 win against Iraq earlier, Haaland wrote: “Messi is a madman 👑”.
A fair assessment!
Needless to say the reaction to Lionel Messi from current and former players is flooding in!
Here’s how World Cup winner and USWNT legend Carli Lloyd reflected on that performance in a post on X:
💬 “Messi is playing with complete freedom. He’s already achieved the ultimate goal by winning the World Cup, and that makes him even more dangerous this tournament.
“No pressure or expectations to live up to — just pure football. Enjoy every moment while we still can. There’s simply no one else like him.”
We’re going to witness the best Golden Boot race in World Cup history.
It's going to be fun…
It has been a big day in the race for the Golden Boot at the 2026 World Cup.
Erling Haaland answered Kylian Mbappe's brace by scoring two goals of his own before Lionel Messi upstaged them both in Kansas City.
GO FURTHER
World Cup 2026 Golden Boot: Who is in the top scorer race?
We saw three players score two or more goals on a single day in the 2022 World Cup too.
It was Bruno Fernandes, Mohammed Kudus, Cho Gue-sung back then.
They are excellent players, of course, but not quite Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland, Lionel Messi.
Team Stats
ARG
ALG
Game Details