Lionel Messi scored his first World Cup hat-trick as Argentina beat Algeria in Group J in Kansas City, Missouri, the forward netting all three goals in a result that moved him level with Miroslav Klose’s men's World Cup record.
Messi’s three strikes pushed him to 16 World Cup goals and underlined his rare longevity: he became the first man to appear at six World Cups. Those two numbers — three goals in one match and 16 across his World Cup career — are the clearest measures of how this game landed.
The goals themselves were as distinct as the milestones they produced. Messi opened with a strike from range, followed by a second after goalkeeper Luca Zidane poorly parried a shot; he completed the hat-trick with a composed finish into the bottom corner to close the scoring.
That form matters against the backdrop of Argentina’s tournament. After an opening defeat in the competition, the narrative around Messi — shaped in previous tournaments and the 2022 storyline that framed this as a late-career chance at the trophy — gained an immediate, dateable counterpoint on the Kansas City pitch.
The match contains an oddity worth noting: Algeria had an opening goal ruled out for offside, yet they finished the game without a single shot on target — the first time that has happened for Algeria in World Cup history. It is a stark friction between what briefly looked like an attacking moment for Algeria and the statistical blank they left the game with.
Beyond the records and the strange stat line, the practical consequence is simple and immediate. Argentina now head to Dallas to play Austria on Monday 22 June at 1pm ET / 10am PT; Algeria travel to San Francisco to face Jordan on Monday 22 June at 11pm ET / 8pm PT. Viewers following highlights and previews, including on Telemundo Live, will have those fixtures circled.
The essential judgment from Kansas City is not ornamental: Messi is once again Argentina’s clearest difference-maker. Scoring three distinct goals in one match, tying the men’s World Cup scoring mark and setting the appearance benchmark at six tournaments leaves Argentina with a straightforward plan — play through Messi. Whether he can sustain this level will decide Argentina’s short-term trajectory; after what was produced against Algeria, the team’s best path forward is to rely on him to create and finish chances against Austria.
