Lionel Messi's Hat Trick Powers Argentina to World Cup Victory

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Lionel Messi stood alone for a moment in the Kansas City heat, shirt clutched to his face, tears streaking down cheeks usually reserved for smirks and shrugs. The white-and-blue of Argentina’s No. 10, soaked through with sweat, doubled as a handkerchief on a night when the greatest player of his era briefly let the world see the weight he’s been carrying.

Seconds earlier, he had done what he has been doing for 20 years on this stage: score at a World Cup.

Then he did it again. And again.

By the final whistle of Argentina’s 3-0 win over Algeria in their World Cup opener, Messi had a hat trick, a share of the all-time men’s World Cup scoring record and a stadium of 69,045 people roaring his name as he walked off to a standing ovation.

Any lingering doubts about the hamstring. Any whispers about age, about whether a 38-year-old turning 39 next week could still drag a heavyweight through another World Cup. All silenced in 90 ruthless minutes in the Midwest.

Tears, then a torrent

The first goal came early, the kind of move Argentina have rehearsed a thousand times but still looks improvised when it runs through Messi’s left boot.

Rodrigo De Paul, his Inter Miami teammate and perpetual bodyguard in midfield, slipped a clever ball into space. Messi glided onto it, opened his body and finished with the ease of a man who has turned that movement into muscle memory. As the ball hit the net, the emotion hit him.

“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,” Messi said, choosing not to elaborate. “I thank my teammates, the coaching staff and the delegation for helping me.”

The celebration said enough. He looked up, then down, then to the bench. Teammates rushed him, but for a beat he seemed somewhere else entirely.

The second goal was pure opportunism. Early in the second half, Argentina swarmed again, Algeria’s back line creaking under the pressure. A shot spilled loose, and Messi pounced on the rebound, smashing it home before defenders could react.

By then, Algeria knew. Everyone did.

The third felt inevitable. A crisp strike, clean and ruthless, delivered just moments before he came off to thunderous applause, his job done, his legend enlarged.

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

Two decades on, still rewriting the record book

This hat trick arrived exactly 20 years to the day since Messi’s World Cup debut, when a skinny teenager from Rosario scored against Serbia and Montenegro and hinted at what was coming. Two decades later, he is still bending the tournament to his will.

The treble against Algeria took him to 16 World Cup goals, tying Germany’s Miroslav Klose at the top of the all-time men’s list. It also made him only the second player to score in five editions of the tournament.

This was his record sixth World Cup. It was also the 61st hat trick of his career, the 11th in Argentina colors, and incredibly, his first at a World Cup finals. He has now scored in five straight World Cup matches.

“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.”

On a night when Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland also flexed their muscles, Messi still stole the show. Mbappé scored twice in France’s 3-1 win over Senegal to move to 14 World Cup goals, tied for fourth on the all-time list. Haaland hit two of his own in Norway’s 4-1 victory over Iraq.

Watching Argentina’s game, Haaland summed up what so many in the sport feel in a Snapchat post: “Messi is a madman.”

Hamstring doubts brushed aside

The build-up to this World Cup carried an uncomfortable question for Argentina: what version of Messi would turn up? With Inter Miami, a minor hamstring problem had slowed him in recent weeks. Every sprint, every grimace, every missed training session became a talking point.

He answered in the most Messi way possible — quietly at first, then decisively.

In a tuneup against Iceland last week, he played 20 sharp minutes, scored from the penalty spot and looked ready. Against Algeria, he looked more than ready. He looked refreshed, engaged, and still very much the hub of everything Argentina do.

“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.”

His appearance was the 200th of his international career, a journey that began in 2005 when he was 18. Only Cristiano Ronaldo, who will reach 229 caps for Portugal on Wednesday, and Kuwait’s Bader al-Mutawa, with 202, have played more times for their country.

Messi and Ronaldo now share another line in history: the only men to have scored in five World Cups.

“Class is permanent,” Algeria coach Vladimir Petkovic said. “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.”

Messi-mania in the Midwest

Argentina chose the Kansas City metro as one of four base camps for this World Cup, and the city has responded like everywhere else Messi goes: with obsession.

For two weeks, Messi jerseys have dotted the streets, from downtown bars to suburban parks. On match day, thousands in No. 10 shirts streamed toward the home of the NFL’s Chiefs, turning the outskirts of Kansas City into a slice of Buenos Aires. They sang, they drummed, they bounced in the stands long before kickoff.

Downtown, at the Power & Light District watch party, the Messi circus took a literal turn. A goat — the animal, not just the acronym — was led on stage by former NFL quarterback and Fox broadcaster Jameis Winston, wearing an Argentina jersey. The crowd roared at the gag, a living meme to the “GOAT” debate that has followed Messi for years.

An hour later, when he scored, the symbolism felt almost too on the nose.

With every World Cup match, the argument that he is soccer’s greatest of all time grows quieter, not because the debate has ended, but because the evidence keeps piling up.

“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.”

Argentina left the field with three points, their captain with another record in sight and a fan base in full voice in the middle of America. The World Cup has only just started, and already the question hangs in the air: if this is the “cherry on top” of Messi’s career, how much sweeter can it still get?