Messi's first World Cup hat trick draws awe from Haaland, Mahomes and beyond

Lionel Messi delivered his first World Cup hat trick and matched Miroslav Klose’s all-time tournament scoring record on Tuesday night, leading Argentina to a commanding 3-0 victory over Algeria at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. The performance left teammates, coaches, and stars from across the sporting world struggling to find adequate words.

Messi opened the scoring in the early minutes after a sharp feed from Inter Miami teammate Rodrigo De Paul, added a second from an opportunistic rebound early in the second half, and completed the treble with a crisp strike moments before being substituted to a standing ovation. The win marks a dominant start to La Albiceleste’s defence of their World Cup crown.

“At a loss for words about Leo. What can I say?” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said. “He’s incredible.”

The timing of the hat trick carried its own weight of history. It came exactly 20 years to the day that Messi made his World Cup debut against Serbia and Montenegro — a game in which he also scored — and made him only the second player, alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, to score in five editions of the tournament. It was also the fifth consecutive World Cup match in which Messi has found the net.

With 16 World Cup goals across six tournaments, Messi now sits level with Klose’s record and appears well-placed to surpass it in the coming weeks. Tuesday’s hat trick was the 61st of his career overall and the 11th wearing Argentina’s blue-and-white.

“It makes me very happy to have lived through everything that came my way. What I’m living through now is the cherry on top,” Messi said. “I’m very happy and grateful for this wonderful group. I enjoy it so much.”

Messi’s performance upstaged two of football’s other headline acts on the same night. Kylian Mbappé scored twice in France’s 3-1 win over Senegal to move into a tie for fourth on the all-time World Cup scoring list with 14 goals, while Erling Haaland netted twice for Norway in a 4-1 victory over Iraq. Even Haaland, fresh from his own big night, was moved to post on Snapchat: “Messi is a madman.”

The match against Algeria was also Messi’s 200th international appearance, a milestone he reached at 37 having made his debut in 2005 at the age of 18. Only Ronaldo, who will earn his 229th cap on Wednesday, and Kuwait’s Bader al-Mutawa, who played 202 times, have more international appearances to their name.