Lionel Messi launched his 2026 World Cup campaign in spectacular fashion, netting his first career tournament hat trick to power Argentina to a dominant 3-0 victory over Algeria in their Group J opener. Beyond registering his first-ever three-goal World Cup performance, the Argentine legend officially surpassed long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo to become the oldest player in tournament history to score a hat trick.
Following a frantic opening sequence that saw a marginal offside call deny a goal for each side, including one away from Messi, the captain broke the deadlock in the 17th minute with a thunderous long-range strike. He then doubled the advantage in the 60th minute by cleaning up a Luca Zidane rebound inside the box, before sealing the historic performance in the 76th minute with a clinical finish off a clever back pass from Nicolas Gonzalez.
Messi’s historic masterclass comes on soccer’s grandest stage at 38 years and 357 days old, just one week shy of his 39th birthday. The legendary performance eclipses the previous benchmark set by Ronaldo, who was 33 years and 130 days old when he claimed the record during a thrilling 2018 group-stage match against Spain.
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