Lionel Messi produced the latest historic performance of his legendary career, scoring a hat-trick that saw Argentina defeat Algeria 3–0 to begin its World Cup title-defense in dream fashion.
The three strikes saw Messi join Miroslav Klose as the all-time leading goalscorers in World Cup annals with 16. On a day where Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland stole the show, Messi took it a step further and delivered the best individual performance of the 2026 World Cup so far.