Mondial-2026: Messi, Messi, Messi
A hat trick, two records and a magical evening in Kansas City: the insatiable Lionel Messi, soon to be 39, guided Argentina to an opening triumph at the 2026 World Cup against Algeria (3-0), who were outclassed by the genius of the reigning champion.
Even before he had touched his first ball, he had already further cemented his legendary status, becoming the first player to play in a sixth World Cup, while awaiting the entry of his generational rival, Cristiano Ronaldo, on Wednesday with Portugal.
For comparison, this is one more edition than the five contested by the Algerian Fennecs in their entire history.
But the "pulga" (the flea) has a giant appetite and he wanted much more: he needed to shine with the ball at his feet and send a message from the outset, after Kylian Mbappé's brace with France against Senegal (3-1), which had overtaken him - very momentarily - in the ranking of the tournament's top scorers (14).
Then he struck three times (17th, 60th, 76th) and received a standing ovation as he left the pitch after bringing his total to 120 goals in 200 appearances, including 16 in the World Cup, equalling the record of the German Miroslav Klose.
"It's an honor to be alongside Klose and other greats, (the Brazilian) Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappé who scored two today... But I think it doesn't mean anything, in the end, it's just a statistic and nothing more," Messi tried to soberly defuse after his nonetheless historic evening.
Argentina's Lucky Luke struck very quickly in Kansas City. After less than five minutes, he had already found the back of the net, but an offside denied him the much-desired goal (5th).
Then the Albiceleste captain got back into the swing of things and made his fervent supporters exult a dozen minutes later, with a beautiful strike that went into the top corner (17th, 1-0).
His Inter Miami teammate, Rodrigo de Paul, found him beautifully in space, he got into a shooting position in front of the penalty area and unleashed a missile that was too powerful for both hands of Luca Zidane, one of the sons of Zinedine, the former French No. 10 of Real Madrid against whom Messi played once in 2005 in a clásico won with his (almost) lifelong club, FC Barcelona.
It took a stroke of genius, aided on the spot by the generosity of the opposing defence, to bring light to a match that was for a long time quite closed and poor in clear opportunities.
Messi didn't care and he had a childlike smile when he celebrated, his arms spread out like airplane wings.
He scored his second goal of the evening like a fox in the box, pouncing on a dipping shot from Alexis Mac Allister that Zidane could only parry (60th, 2-0).
The Granada goalkeeper, playing in the Spanish second division, didn't have a good game on that occasion. But he redeemed himself somewhat by making a fine one-handed save from a Messi shot (60th minute).
The former Barcelona and PSG star finally completed his hat trick with a shot from the edge of the box, a classic example of his commanding style (76th minute, 3-0). His national team coach then gave him a majestic send-off, to the cheers and shouts of the fans immediately afterwards (80th minute).
"Leo is hard to explain. He always amazes us, even though we're around him every day," commented Lionel Scaloni. "He's been the best for 20 years, and he continues to do everything right in every match."
Algeria, for its part, lacked the necessary intensity and failed to adhere to certain fundamentals, particularly in defense, and it paid dearly for it. This was also, perhaps, a consequence of its inexperience, given that the team hadn't played in a World Cup since 2014.
At the time, Messi already had four Ballon d'Or awards to his name.
![[EXCLUSIF] Diodio de "Baabel" arrêtée avec de la cocaïne et des objets sexuels : comment une vidéo virale a poussé le procureur Saliou Dicko à actionner la BR de Keur Massar](https://image.seneweb.com/content/news/2026-25-17//thumb_1260x800_6a31e625b77ed_Ghfor4Ome2.jpg)
Commentaires (7)
Participer à la Discussion
Règles de la communauté :
💡 Astuce : Utilisez des emojis depuis votre téléphone ou le module emoji ci-dessous. Cliquez sur GIF pour ajouter un GIF animé. Collez un lien X/Twitter, TikTok ou Instagram pour l'afficher automatiquement.