Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick as Argentina defeated Algeria 3-0 at Arrowhead Stadium on Tuesday night.
- The performance made Messi the oldest Argentine to score at a World Cup, exactly 20 years after becoming the youngest in 2006.
- Messi now has 16 World Cup goals, tying Miroslav Klose's all-time record and setting up a chance to break it against Austria on Monday.
Lionel Messi's astonishing recent World Cup record continues. On Tuesday night, as Argentina began their title defense at Arrowhead Stadium, the 38-year-old astonished the planet yet again, scoring a hat trick during la Albiceleste's 3-0 victory over Algeria. In doing so, he broke, or at least matched, a plethora of records, while also enjoying something of a full-circle moment.
These goals saw Messi become the oldest Argentine to ever score at a World Cup. Amazingly, he did so exactly 20 years to the day after his World Cup debut against Serbia and Montenegro back on June 16 of 2006. That afternoon, coming off the bench for the final 15 minutes of a 6-0 victory in Gelsenkirchen, he also became the youngest Argentinian to score at a World Cup — so now he holds both records.
Lionel Messi's resume is officially untouchable after World Cup hat trick
More historically perhaps, Messi's hat trick took his tally to 16 World Cup goals. This equals the all-time record set by Mirosłav Klose back in 2014, a record Messi will thereby be seeking to surpass when la Albiceleste take on Austria at Jerry World on Monday.
In Qatar four years ago, the magician scored in the round of 16, the quarterfinal, the semifinal and then the final itself. Combined with his outburst on Tuesday night, he has become only the 15th man to score in five consecutive World Cup matches. Only two players have scored in six in succession: France's Just Fontaine in 1958 and Jairzinho of Brazil in 1970, a record Messi can equal on Monday and then potentially overtake against Jordan on June 27.
Aside from just the goals, setting foot on the field at Arrowhead made Messi the first man to appear at six different World Cups. Only 20 hours later, Cristiano Ronaldo will also achieve this when Portugal take on DR Congo in Houston on Wednesday. Wonder if anyone has compared those two players before? Probably not.
Messi's tally of 27 World Cup appearances is already a record, overtaking Lothar Matthäus' tally in the 2022 final. If Lionel Scaloni's side make it all the way to this summer's final, Messi would become just the second man to appear in three World Cup finals after Cafu, who did so for Brazil in '94, '98 and 2002. (A certain Kylian Mbappé is also chasing this particular achievement.)
Lastly, even before bagging a first World Cup hat trick, the clash with Algeria was already a landmark occasion. Messi earned his 200th international cap, becoming just the third man to achieve the feat after Ronaldo of Portugal and, slightly less famously, Kuwait striker Bader Al-Mutawa. Elsewhere, Luka Modrić is poised to join this club when Croatia meet Panama in Toronto on June 23.
The conclusion is simple: enjoy Messi while you still can. He won't be around forever, so watch him whenever you are able to, because he is always a joy.
Add us as a preferred source on Google