Lionel Messi Shines with Hat Trick in World Cup Opener
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Lionel Messi wiped his eyes with the front of his white-and-blue shirt, the fabric already darkened with sweat. The tears came first. The goals followed.
He scored once. Then twice. Then three times.
By the end of Argentina’s 3-0 win over Algeria in their World Cup opener, the questions that had hovered over him — the hamstring, the age, the possibility of going back-to-back as world champion at 39 — felt almost absurd. On a heavy Midwestern night, Messi produced a hat trick that dragged him level with Miroslav Klose as the men’s World Cup all-time leading scorer and pushed this tournament instantly into his orbit.
His first goal, the emotional one, arrived early. Rodrigo De Paul, his Inter Miami teammate turned Argentina metronome, slipped him through with a clever pass. Messi finished, then broke. The usually impassive face crumpled, his eyes shining as he tried to hide behind his jersey.
“My tears after the first goal? I’ve had some tough days. It wasn’t related to football. And those feelings were because of that,” he said later, stopping short of details. “I thank my teammates, the coaching staff and the delegation for helping me.”
The second came from instinct, the kind of goal only a player who has lived two decades at this level scores. A rebound fell loose early in the second half, and Messi pounced, snapping the ball into the net before Algeria could reset.
The third was pure technique. A crisp strike, clean and ruthless, moments before he walked off to a standing ovation from 69,045 fans, most of them draped in Argentina’s colors and chanting his name. He left the stage having completed the 61st hat trick of his career, his 11th for the national team, and his first at a World Cup.
Lionel Scaloni, usually measured, just shook his head.
“At a loss for words about Leo. What can I say?” the Argentina coach admitted. “He’s incredible.”
Twenty Years On, Still the World Cup’s Main Character
The timing of it all felt scripted. Exactly 20 years to the day since Messi made his World Cup debut against Serbia and Montenegro — and scored — he did it again, on a bigger stage and under a heavier weight of history.
With this treble, Messi became only the second player to score in five editions of the men’s World Cup. He now has 16 goals across a record six tournaments, standing alongside Klose and staring down a record that looks destined to fall in the coming weeks. He has scored in five straight World Cup matches, a streak that underlines how firmly he still grips this competition.
“It makes me very happy to have lived through everything that came my way. What I’m living though now is the cherry on top,” Messi said. “I’m very happy and grateful for this wonderful group. I enjoy it so much.”
Even on a day when Kylian Mbappé hit two for France in a 3-1 win over Senegal to move into a tie for fourth on the all-time list with 14, and Erling Haaland struck twice in Norway’s 4-1 victory over Iraq, Messi stole the global spotlight. Haaland, watching Argentina’s game, posted his own verdict.
“Messi is a madman,” the Norwegian wrote on Snapchat.
The numbers back it up. Six World Cups. Sixteen goals. Sixty-one career hat tricks. Yet the story in Kansas City was less about statistics and more about the sense that, even now, the tournament bends toward him.
From Hamstring Doubts to Heart of the Team
Not long ago, Argentina worried whether their captain would even be fully fit. A minor hamstring issue with Inter Miami had slowed him before the tournament. His only serious test came in a tuneup against Iceland, where he played 20 sharp minutes and scored from the penalty spot.
“This is my sixth World Cup, and I still feel like I’m in good shape,” Messi said. “Fortunately, I’m doing well, and today we managed to win a tough match. It’s important to start the tournament with a victory in the first game, as that’s never easy in a World Cup.”
If there were any lingering doubts, he erased them with every sprint, every touch, every demand for the ball. This was his 200th appearance for Argentina, a journey that began in 2005 when he was 18. Only Cristiano Ronaldo, on 228 caps and set for his 229th, and Kuwait’s Bader al-Mutawa, with 202, sit above him in the men’s international appearance chart.
Messi and Ronaldo now share another piece of history: the only men to score in five World Cups.
“Class is permanent,” said Algeria coach Vladimir Petkovic. “He’s fortunate to have the privilege that the entire Argentina team works for him, and supports him, and for a number of years now — decades — he’s done incredible things.”
Argentina do work for him. They also feed off him. His presence still dictates their rhythm, their aggression, their belief. When he drops deep, the team breathes. When he accelerates, they follow.
Messi-Mania in the Midwest
The World Cup has scattered its giants across the United States, and Argentina chose the Kansas City metro as their base. The effect has been immediate. Messi-mania has rolled through the Heartland.
On match day, the roads leading to the home of the NFL’s Chiefs turned sky blue and white. Thousands of fans in No. 10 shirts poured into the stadium, singing his name, waving flags, filming every warm-up stretch and touch. For many, this was likely a once-in-a-lifetime glimpse.
Downtown, at the Power & Light District watch party, the spectacle took a more literal turn. A goat, led on stage by former NFL quarterback and current Fox broadcaster Jameis Winston, appeared in an Argentina jersey. The crowd roared. An hour later, Messi scored. The joke felt like prophecy.
With every performance like this, the GOAT debate drains of oxygen. The argument that he is the greatest of all time is becoming less a discussion and more a statement of fact for his followers.
“It’s an advantage to have Leo because of how he handles the group and pushes it forward. Because of who he is,” De Paul said. “He doesn’t care about individual records. He prioritizes the group, and for us it’s incredible.”
Chasing History, Again
Argentina came to this World Cup with a target on their backs and a chance to join the rarest company: teams that win consecutive titles. Messi turns 39 next week. He has nothing left to prove, yet he keeps stacking nights like this.
The opener against Algeria was supposed to be a test of his fitness, a feeler for how much he still had in his legs. Instead, it became another chapter in a story that refuses to end quietly.
The record with Klose is now shared. The stage is set for him to take it outright.
The question hanging over this tournament isn’t whether Messi can still decide games. It’s how many more of them he plans to own before he finally walks away.
