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

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Lionel Messi stood on the Arrowhead turf with his face buried in the front of his white-and-blue shirt, wiping away tears that refused to wait for the final whistle.

He had just scored. Again. And again.

By the time he walked off to a standing ovation from 69,045 fans, Argentina’s captain had ripped Algeria apart, delivered a 3-0 World Cup-opening win and dragged himself level with Miroslav Klose at the top of the men’s tournament scoring charts. At 39 next week, with a hamstring recently in doubt and a nation forever on his shoulders, Messi answered every question in 90 ruthless minutes.

Tears, then a torrent

The first goal came early, and it came with feeling.

Rodrigo De Paul, his Inter Miami teammate and on-field bodyguard, slipped a clever pass into the box. Messi arrived, finished, and then broke. Not in movement, but in emotion. The usually impassive face crumpled, the jersey came up, the tears came out.

“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 afterward. “I thank my teammates, the coaching staff and the delegation for helping me.”

The crowd knew something had shifted. Argentina knew. Algeria knew.

The pressure built, the spaces opened, and Messi went back to what he does best. Early in the second half, he was quickest to react to a loose ball in the box, pouncing on a rebound to double the lead. Later, with the game already broken, he stepped up once more and drilled in a crisp third before walking off to a roar that rolled around the home of the NFL’s Chiefs.

Hat trick complete. Game over. Statement delivered.

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

Two decades on, still rewriting the World Cup

The timing was almost theatrical. Twenty years to the day since a teenage Messi made his World Cup debut against Serbia and Montenegro — and scored — he was at it again, bending another piece of history to his will.

This latest treble made him only the second player to score in five editions of the men’s World Cup. It also took him to 16 goals in a record six appearances at the tournament, pulling him alongside Klose and within touching distance of outright ownership of the scoring record in the coming weeks.

The numbers barely seem real. This was the 61st hat trick of his career, the 11th for Argentina, and astonishingly, his first at a World Cup. It also extended his streak to five consecutive World Cup matches with a goal.

“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 day when Kylian Mbappé struck twice in France’s 3-1 win over Senegal to move into a tie for fourth on the all-time list with 14 goals, and Erling Haaland scored twice in Norway’s 4-1 victory over Iraq, Messi still stole the stage.

“Messi is a madman,” Haaland posted on Snapchat while Argentina were playing. The rest of the football world could only nod.

From hamstring doubts to heartbeat of a champion

Just weeks ago, the story around Messi sounded different. A minor hamstring problem at Inter Miami had slowed him, raised eyebrows and sharpened debate about how much he could still give at this level.

The answer came first in a sharp 20-minute tuneup against Iceland, where he scored from the spot and moved freely. The full verdict arrived against Algeria.

“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 his 200th for Argentina, a staggering international journey that began in 2005 when he was 18. Only Cristiano Ronaldo, who is set for his 229th cap with Portugal, and Kuwait’s Bader al-Mutawa, who played 202 times, have more.

Messi and Ronaldo now share another line in the record books: 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.”

A city swept up in Messi-mania

Kansas City has hosted plenty of big events, but this was different. Argentina is one of four national teams based in the metro area for this World Cup, and ever since La Albiceleste landed in the Heartland two weeks ago, the city has tilted toward sky blue and white.

On match day, the highways and parking lots filled with No. 10 shirts. Families, ultras, and neutrals all joined the same pilgrimage to Arrowhead, singing Messi’s name long before he appeared in the tunnel.

Downtown, at the Power & Light District, the spectacle took a literal turn. A goat — yes, an actual goat — walked on stage in an Argentina jersey alongside former NFL quarterback-turned-Fox broadcaster Jameis Winston during a watch party. The crowd laughed, phones came out, and the symbolism was impossible to miss.

An hour later, Messi scored. The joke suddenly felt like prophecy.

With every performance, the debate around the sport’s GOAT feels less like an argument and more like a formality.

“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 Arrowhead with three points, a clean sheet and their captain level with the World Cup’s greatest scorer. The record is there now, right in front of him.

The real question is what else he plans to take before this tournament is done.