FIFA World Cup 2026, Argentina vs Algeria Football highlights: Lionel Messi scores hat-trick for ARG
FIFA Football World Cup 2026 Today Match highlights: Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick in 76 minutes before he was substituted in Argentina’s 3-0 victory over Algeria in their FIFA World Cup 2026 opener. Messi first scored a wonder goal in the 17th minute, curling the ball past keeper Luca Zidane with his left foot. Then, he tapped in to score a simple goal in the 60th minute before scoring his third goal from his favoured left foot again. The hat-trick goal was Messi’s 16th goal at the World Cup in his 27th match at the tournament, which puts him joint first in the list of all-time goalscorers at the prestigious event.
In the first eight minutes of the Argentina vs Algeria game at Kansas City, there were two goals, including one scored by Messi, chalked off for outside.
Story continues below this ad
Four years after he inspired Argentina to the FIFA World Cup title in Qatar, he’s back at the helm of Argentina. Messi’s Argentina ar ein Group J with Algeria, Austria and tournament debutants Jordan.
At Argentina’s last warm-up game against Iceland before the start of the FIFA World Cup 2026, Messi was only called on as a substitute for 20 minutes by coach Lionel Scaloni. But at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium, Messi started and had the captain’s armband with him in what was his 200th cap for Argentina.
“Not only the Argentinian population but everybody — the whole planet — wants to see him play,” Scaloni said before the game. “Everybody wants to see him on the pitch, because he has an effect not only on Argentina fans but supporters all over the world.”
Scroll down to read all the latest updates from the Argentina vs Algeria game at the FIFA World Cup 2026
Live Updates
Why Messi playing like Xavi works for Argentina
Messi wants to match Messi himself, composing a tribute act to himself. (AP)
The pull is irresistible; to win it, to win it again. If Lionel Messi had not lifted the World Cup in Qatar, he would have been just another celebrity guest in the corporate box. But success, unlike failure, lures into reliving the glorious yesterday once more, to kiss the bulbous crown again, to be ferried on the shoulders of his teammates again, or to cry so innocently again. Messi cannot leave his yesterdays behind, and so he is in the US to achieve a rare feat last achieved by Pele and friends in 1962.
Maybe, this is how he has planned his legacy. He has matched Diego Maradona, his idol and still the most loved footballer in his country, in winning the World Cup. Now, Messi wants to match Messi himself, composing a tribute act to himself. He could spoil the perfect ending that Qatar had bestowed on him, he could turn out to be a parody of himself. He will turn 39 during the tournament. But Messi is not delusional that he just needs to turn up and the goals and assists would automatically arrive, or that he is in his peak physical shape.
READ MORE FROM SANDIP G