Messi's first World Cup hat trick lifts Argentina past Algeria and ties Klose's all-time scoring record

Lionel Messi scored his first hat trick in a World Cup match as Argentina defeated Algeria 3-0 on Tuesday, a performance that rewrote several pages of the tournament’s record books. The 38-year-old’s three goals moved him level with Germany’s Miroslav Klose on 16 World Cup goals — the most any player has ever scored — surpassing Brazil’s Ronaldo, who netted 15.

The milestone arrived on a day when France’s Kylian Mbappé and Norway’s Erling Haaland had each scored twice in their own group matches, yet Messi still managed to overshadow them both. It was the 11th hat trick of his international career and the third time he has scored at least two goals in a single World Cup game.

At 38 years and 357 days old, Messi is now the oldest player in men’s World Cup history to score a hat trick, eclipsing Cristiano Ronaldo’s record set against Spain in 2018, when the Portuguese forward was 33. Messi also became the second man to score in five different World Cups, again joining Ronaldo in that company.

The span of Messi’s World Cup scoring is almost impossible to comprehend: his first goal at the tournament came in 2006, when he was 18. Tuesday’s hat trick arrived 20 years later, making him both Argentina’s youngest and oldest World Cup goalscorer.

Messi has now scored in five consecutive World Cup matches, tying 14 other players for that record. Should he find the net against Argentina’s next opponents, he would become the first man ever to score in six straight World Cup games — a record that currently has no holder.

His international tally stands at 120 goals, second only to Ronaldo’s 143. Argentina’s hat trick was also the fifth in their World Cup history; only Germany, with six, have more.

Messi, who plays his club football for Inter Miami, is the 10th player affiliated with an MLS club to score a World Cup goal since 1998. He made his 27th appearance at a World Cup on Tuesday, extending his own record as the most-capped player in the tournament’s history, and remains the only man to have played in six editions of the competition — though Ronaldo is set to join him when Portugal next take the field.