Lionel Messi Shines with Hat Trick in Kansas City World Cup Match
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The World Cup holders arrived in the Midwest with questions to answer and history to chase. Lionel Messi dealt with both.
On a warm Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium, the 38-year-old captain tore through Algeria with a ruthless hat trick, dragging Argentina’s title defense into gear with a 3-0 win and hauling himself level with Miroslav Klose’s all-time World Cup scoring record of 16 goals.
Different continent, different group, same story: when Argentina need certainty, Messi supplies it.
A start with scars in the background
Two years ago, Argentina opened their campaign by stumbling against Saudi Arabia. That bruise has never really faded, and it hung over this Group J curtain-raiser.
This time, there was no hesitation.
Argentina settled quickly, the ball zipping between sky-blue shirts as Algeria tried to compress the space. The European-based core of Lionel Scaloni’s side looked sharp, and the first real flash of quality was enough to rip the game open.
In the 17th minute, Messi dropped off the front line, linked crisply with Rodrigo De Paul and suddenly found grass where there had been traffic. One touch to set, one glance, and then that familiar left foot whipped through the ball from outside the box. It screamed into the top corner, beyond any realistic reach of goalkeeper Luca Zidane.
Arrowhead, more used to NFL roars, erupted for a very different kind of superstar.
Control, chances, and Zidane’s resistance
The goal settled Argentina. They began to play with the authority of reigning champions, pinning Algeria back and forcing the North African side to chase shadows.
Thiago Almada should have made it 2-0 before the break, arriving in space only to drag his effort off target. Lautaro Martínez then bullied his way into a shooting position and forced a sharp save from Zidane, the son of France legend Zinedine Zidane, who refused to be overawed by the occasion or the name on the back of the No. 10 shirt in front of him.
Algeria, for their part, clung on. They blocked, scrambled, and cleared, hoping that one counterattack might tilt the story. It never truly came. Argentina’s back line kept the game in front of them, and Emiliano Martínez spent long stretches as a distant spectator.
The champions went in at halftime with only a single-goal cushion, but the gap in class felt wider.
The pressure finally tells
After the restart, Argentina tightened their grip. De Paul kept dictating tempo, Alexis Mac Allister drifted into half-spaces, and the Algerian midfield began to tire under the constant churn of movement.
Just after the hour, the dam finally broke.
Mac Allister burst into the box and forced Zidane into another strong save, but this time the rebound fell where Algeria least wanted it to: at Messi’s feet. He reacted in a flash, guiding the loose ball home to double the lead and move to 16 World Cup goals, level with Klose at the summit of the all-time list.
Argentina’s No. 10 could smell more.
Moments later, he slipped in behind the Algerian back line again, bearing down on Zidane in a pure one-on-one. The keeper stood tall and won the duel, denying what looked certain to be Messi’s third. When Messi tumbled under contact in the box soon after, he turned immediately to the referee, appealing for a penalty that never came.
No whistle. No complaint for long. He simply went hunting again.
History, completed with a low finish
The hat trick arrived in the 76th minute, and it came with the kind of simplicity that defines great forwards.
Nicolás González picked his head up and threaded a pass into Messi’s stride. No flourish, no need. Messi opened his body, picked his spot and rolled a low shot into the corner, out of Zidane’s reach and into the record books.
Three goals on the night. Sixteen in World Cups. Argentina cruising at 3-0, the tension of that Saudi Arabia memory finally easing in the Kansas City air.
From there, it became a procession. Scaloni was able to manage minutes, rotate legs, and protect his star. When Messi’s number went up late on, Arrowhead rose as one, delivering a standing ovation worthy of a player who has spent a career bending tournaments to his will.
He walked off with the match ball under his arm and a fresh record in his sights.
Argentina leave their opener with three points, a clean sheet, and their captain already level with Klose. With Austria and Jordan still to come in Group J, the question is no longer whether Messi can stand alone at the top of the World Cup scoring charts — it’s how far he intends to push that mark before this defense is done.
