Messi scores hat-trick as Argentina beat Algeria 3-0 in World Cup debut

90+6' The match ends.

90' Six minutes of added time are indicated.

85' Riyad Mahrez takes a free kick from a good position, but the shot hits the wall.

81' Yacine Titraoui (6) comes on for Ibrahim Maza (22), and Mohamed Amoura (20) replaces Nabil Bentaleb (19) for the Algerians.

79' Lionel Messi comes off for Nico Paz, and Cristian Romero is replaced by Nicolás Otamendi for the Argentinians.

75' Lionel Messi plays it wide to Nico González (15), who returns the ball on the edge of the box, and Messi finishes low into the right post past the goalkeeper for the goal.

73' Julián Álvarez wins the ball in attack and plays it to Lionel Messi, who goes down slightly after a light push from behind, but the referee waves play on.

72' The match restarts after the hydration break.

69' A hydration break is taken by both teams.

68' Houssem Aouar gets a shot off across goal, low and driven, but it goes wide of the post.

65' A through ball finds Lionel Messi, who finishes with his left foot, but the goalkeeper makes a strong save.

63' Houssem Aouar (8) comes off for Hicham Boudaoui (14), Amine Gouiri (9) is replaced by Mohamed Amoura (18), and Anis Hadj Moussa (11) is replaced by Riyad Mahrez (7).

60' Alexis Mac Allister shoots from distance, the goalkeeper spills the rebound, and Lionel Messi reacts first to tap it in for the goal.

57' The Algerians dominate possession while the Argentinians sit deep and wait for openings on the counterattack.

54' Lautaro Martínez is replaced by Julián Álvarez and Thiago Almada makes way for Nicolás González for the Argentinians.

53' Lionel Messi plays a through ball to Lautaro Martínez, who finishes low across goal, but the goalkeeper makes the save.

52' A clear counterattack for the Argentinians through Rodrigo De Paul ends with a poor pass inside the box, and the Algerian defence clears the danger.

50' Lionel Messi is given space outside the box but his effort goes well wide.

The second half is underway.

Nahuel Molina comes on for Gonzalo Montiel for the Argentinians.

45+4' The referee blows the whistle for halftime with the Argentinians leading the Algerians 1-0.

45+3' Anis Hadj Moussa's low shot slipped through several legs in the box, but it lacked power and rolled safely into the hands of Emiliano Martínez.

45' The fourth official indicates four minutes of added time at the end of the first half.

43' Farès Chaïbi dribbles past Cristian Romero and tries his luck from long range, but the shot sails well over the crossbar.

41' Thiago Almada cuts inside from the left and curls an effort toward goal, but the shot goes well wide of the target.

39' Farès Chaïbi reached the byline and sent a cross into the box, but Emiliano Martínez got there first and pushed it behind for a corner.

33' Messi's goal was the 118th of his international career and came in his 200th appearance for the Argentinians.

30' The Argentinians are gradually taking control of the match, keeping possession of the ball while the Algerians sit back and wait.

27' Play resumes after the hydration break.

24' The referee pauses the match for a hydration break.

20' Possession is almost evenly split, with the Argentinians holding 53% of the ball compared to 47% for the Algerians.

16' Lionel Messi receives a pass between the lines and curls a shot from outside the box into the goalkeeper's top-left corner to give the Argentinians a 1-0 lead.

14' Neither team is pressing high up the field, with both the Argentinians and Algerians dropping into their own half and waiting when the opposition has possession.

11' The Algerians take the free kick short on the left side, but the move breaks down before creating any danger.

8' Farès Chaïbi received a through ball and finished into the near corner to give the Algerians a 1-0 lead, but VAR reviewed the play and ruled him offside, disallowing the goal.

4' Lautaro Martínez brought the ball down for Lionel Messi, who entered the box and finished into the near corner for what looked like the opening goal, but the flag was up for offside.

3' Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez starts the match despite suffering a fractured finger during the warm-up before the Europa League final with Aston Villa.

The match Argentina vs Algeria begins.

The referees for this match are Szymon Marciniak (Main Referee - Poland), Tomasz Listkiewicz (Assistant Referee 1 - Poland), Adam Kupsik (Assistant Referee 2 - Poland), Campbell-Kirk Kawana-Waugh (Fourth Official - New Zealand), Isaac Trevis (Reserve Assistant Referee - New Zealand), Tomasz Kwiatkowski (Video Assistant Referee - Poland), Guillermo Pacheco (Assistant Video Assistant Referee - Mexico), and Armando Villarreal (Support Video Assistant Referee - USA).

Argentina and Algeria are in Group J, where they are competing against Austria and Jordan. Argentina must play Austria (June 22) and Jordan (June 27), while Algeria face Jordan first (June 22) before Austria (June 27).

These teams have only played each other once, on June 5, 2007, when Argentina won 4-3 at Camp Nou. Argentina's goals were scored by Lionel Messi (two), Carlos Tevez, and Esteban Cambiasso, while Algeria's goals came from Nadir Belhadj (two) and Antar Yahia.

Argentina: E. Martinez; Montiel, Romero, Lisandro Martinez, Medina; Fernandez, De Paul, Mac Allister; Messi, Lautaro Martinez, Almada.

Algeria: Zidane; Belghali, Mandi, Bensebaini, Ait-Nouri; Bentaleb, Boudaoui; Hadj Moussa, Chaibi, Gouiri; Maza.

The venue for this match is Kansas City Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. It has a capacity of 76,416.

Welcome to live coverage of the match Argentina vs Algeria.