Messi opened a new chapter in world history with a hat-trick against Algeria
Lionel Messi once again wrote one of the great pages of football history. The Argentine captain scored all three goals in Argentina's 3:0 victory against Algeria in the first round of Group J of the 2026 World Cup, and the evening in Kansas City gained additional weight because of two major records. According to a report by the Argentine Football Association, Messi made his 200th appearance for the national team in that match, while with his hat-trick he reached 16 goals at World Cups. In doing so, according to FIFA's historical list of scorers, he drew level with Miroslav Klose at the very top of the ranking. After the match, Messi also spoke about his personal motivation, emphasizing that in many ways he identifies with Rafael Nadal, whose documentary series he watched before the tournament.
The match was played on 16 June local time in Kansas City, as part of the opening of Argentina's campaign to defend the world champion title. According to the schedule published by FIFA, Argentina is in Group J with Algeria, Austria and Jordan, and the first appearance was also important because of the memory of Qatar 2022, when the then champion of South America opened the tournament with a shocking defeat by Saudi Arabia. This time Lionel Scaloni's team did not allow a similar scenario. Argentina controlled the rhythm, had more composure in the final third and, according to the AFA report, reached victory thanks to the captain who once again took the main role in the most important moments.
Three goals for victory and a historic equalization with Klose
Messi scored the first goal in the 17th minute, when he struck with his left foot from the edge of the penalty area to give Argentina the lead. According to the AFA report, Argentina had threatened even before that, and one Messi move was ruled out for offside. Algeria also had a moment in which the ball ended up in Emiliano Martínez's net, but the goal was disallowed because of an illegal position. After the initial pressure and several warnings on both sides, the Argentine advantage gave the match a clearer direction: the defending champion could build attacks more patiently, while Algeria had to look for space against a well-positioned back line.
The second goal arrived in the second half, after a shot by Alexis Mac Allister that Algerian goalkeeper Luca Zidane failed to fully tame. Messi was quickest to the rebound and from close range increased the lead to 2:0. The third goal, with which he completed his first hat-trick at World Cups, came after another left-footed finish for the final 3:0. According to the statistical summary by Global Sports Archive, the goals were recorded in the 17th, 60th and 76th minutes, while the AFA states that Messi then concluded the evening as the central figure of the encounter.
The hat-trick had a historical dimension because Messi was on 13 goals at World Cups before the match, the tally he had after winning the title in Qatar in 2022. FIFA's list of the best scorers in the history of the competition listed Klose at the top with 16 goals, ahead of Ronaldo Nazário with 15 and a group of greats that included Gerd Müller, Just Fontaine, Pelé, Kylian Mbappé and Messi. With three goals against Algeria, the Argentine captain equalled Klose's number and opened the possibility of becoming the sole record holder already in the continuation of the group. This achievement is especially significant because it comes twenty years after his first World Cup, at which he scored against Serbia and Montenegro in 2006.
Two hundredth appearance for Argentina and a career that is still going
According to the AFA, the match against Algeria was Messi's 200th appearance for Argentina. In the text dedicated to that jubilee, the association stated that Messi reached that number through six World Cups, 39 appearances at the Copa América and a long cycle of South American qualifiers. The AFA also stated that before this match his national-team record included 117 goals, 61 assists and four major titles with the national side: the Copa América in 2021 and 2024, the Finalissima in 2022 and the 2022 World Cup. Such context explains why the match against Algeria was viewed not only through the result but also through the continuity of one of the longest and most successful national-team careers in modern football.
For Argentina, the victory also had competitive value. In the new World Cup format, with a larger number of national teams and an expanded tournament structure, a good start reduces the pressure in the remaining group matches. After Algeria, Argentina has matches with Austria and Jordan, and the schedule previously published by the AFA states that it meets Austria on 22 June in Dallas, while it plays the final group duel against Jordan. In such a schedule, three points from the first round and a better goal difference give the defending champion a solid starting point, but Scaloni warned after the match that his team must not rely only on individual quality.
The AFA conveyed Scaloni's message that first matches at World Cups are always demanding and that no national team gives anything away. The Argentine coach emphasized that the group still comes before the individual, although he spoke about Messi with marked respect. According to the AFA, Scaloni said that Messi will be the best as long as he wants to be and that it is exciting to watch him after twenty years at the highest level. Such statements do not change the fact that Argentina must maintain balance, but they show how important the captain's role still is for the team's identity.
Nadal as a mirror of sporting longevity
After the match, Messi's statement about Rafael Nadal attracted special attention. The Spanish AS published that Messi, speaking about his motivation, said that he has loved playing football since childhood and that, when he feels good, he wants to give his maximum. In the same conversation, he said that he watches the series about Nadal and that he identifies with him very strongly. According to AS, Messi emphasized that he still enjoys trying to give everything he has, which is the connection he himself drew between the final stage of his football career and Nadal's long period of battling injuries, pressure and expectations.
Netflix's official page describes the series Rafa as a documentary project in which Nadal speaks about what shaped one of the greatest tennis careers. The description also emphasizes the motif of overcoming obstacles, which helps explain why Messi singled out Nadal in particular. Both carried the status of global sporting symbols during their careers, both competed for years against the strongest rivals of their era, and both, in the final phases of their careers, had to carefully manage their bodies, pressure and public expectations.
Messi's comparison with Nadal is not an attempt to equate two different sports, but a description of the mentality that enables elite athletes to achieve longevity. Nadal's career was marked by physical wear, comebacks and the constant search for ways to remain competitive despite limitations. Messi is a different type of athlete in football, but at the age of 38 he still has to choose his moments, dose his efforts and adapt his game. That is exactly why his performance against Algeria was not only a reminder of technical class, but also proof that experience, efficiency and a feel for space can be turned into a decisive advantage even when physical dominance is no longer the only support.
Argentina gained a result, but also confirmation of the hierarchy
The victory against Algeria showed that Argentina still relies on a proven core. In the foreground were Messi, Mac Allister, Enzo Fernández, Rodrigo De Paul, Cristian Romero and Emiliano Martínez, players who form the backbone of the team shaped through previous major tournaments. In its report, the AFA emphasized that Argentina controlled the rhythm and possession from the start, while Algeria's threats were mostly limited to individual attempts and situations that did not change the result. In such a balance of power, Messi received enough space to take over the finishing, but the victory was at the same time the result of the stability of the whole team.
Algeria entered the match with a team that included players from European leagues and with a clear ambition to make the job difficult for the current world champion. According to the AFA's profile of the opponent, Algeria's best result at World Cups remains the round of 16 from 2014, while the national team did not compete in Qatar in 2022. In Kansas City it had periods in which it tried to get out of pressure and find space behind the Argentine defence, but the disallowed goal in the early phase remained its closest moment of a concrete response. After Messi's second goal, the match increasingly broke Argentina's way, and the third goal ended any uncertainty about the result.
For Scaloni, it is also important that his team did not allow the historic evening to turn into emotional chaos. After the first goal, Messi was visibly shaken, and AS reports that he later said the reason was not football, but personal circumstances and difficult days before the match. In the public sphere, such details can easily overshadow the sporting part of the story, but Argentina's performance on the pitch remained very clear. The team kept its structure, used the key moments and opened the tournament with a victory in a way that gives it calm for the continuation of the group.
Records that also change the image of the tournament
Messi's equalization with Klose changes the wider narrative of the 2026 World Cup. Before the tournament, one of the big stories was the race for the top of the historical scorers' list, in which other active players also had an important role alongside Messi. But the hat-trick against Algeria immediately raised the bar and put the Argentine captain in a position where, in the next matches, he can take over the top on his own. Such records often seem secondary in relation to the fight for the title, but in the case of a player who has already won the World Cup and is again leading the team as captain, they gain additional historical weight.
For Argentina, the key is the balance between the collective goal and the individual story that will follow every Messi touch of the ball. The AFA recalls that Argentina is trying to become the third national team in history to defend the world champion title, after Italy in 1934 and 1938 and Brazil in 1958 and 1962. Such a goal requires more than one evening of inspiration, so the victory against Algeria will be valuable only if the team confirms stability in the remaining matches. Still, the way Messi opened the tournament shows that Argentina still has in him a player who can change a match without a long period of domination.
The next appearances will bring different tactical challenges and probably more caution from opponents toward Messi's space between the lines. Austria and Jordan will have enough material for analysis, but also a problem that has repeated itself for two decades: knowing what Messi wants to do is not the same as preventing him from doing it. That is why the match against Algeria was more than an opening victory for the defending champion. It was confirmation that, in the final phase of one exceptional career, record, emotion, competitive hunger and efficiency that decides matches on the biggest stage can still come together.
Sources:
- Asociación del Fútbol Argentino – report on Argentina's 3:0 victory against Algeria, the course of the match, the stadium and the context of the appearance (link)
- Asociación del Fútbol Argentino – data on Messi's 200th appearance, national-team record and titles with Argentina (link)
- FIFA – official overview of the leading scorers in World Cup history (link)
- FIFA – official match centre for Argentina – Algeria at the 2026 World Cup (link)
- AS – Messi's statements about motivation, the comparison with Rafael Nadal and reactions after the match (link)
- Global Sports Archive – statistical summary of the Argentina – Algeria match, including the minutes of the goals and the match record (link)
- Netflix – official information about the documentary series Rafa on Rafael Nadal (link)