Lionel Messi has officially become the most accomplished player in World Cup history after scoring his first hat-trick in the tournament, leading Argentina to a 3-0 victory over Algeria in the opening group match. This is the 38-year-old forward's sixth World Cup, a new personal record.
In the match played on June 16, 2026, at Kansas City stadium (USA), Messi made his 200th appearance for the national team. He scored in the 4th minute but the goal was disallowed. However, in the 17th minute, he put the ball into the net after a rebound from goalkeeper Luca Zidane (son of legend Zinedine Zidane), scoring his 15th World Cup goal.
That goal tied Messi with Kylian Mbappe, who scored earlier for France in their win over Senegal. Messi then completed his hat-trick, bringing his total World Cup goals to 16, equaling Miroslav Klose's record, and also marking his 120th career international goal.
Messi also became the first player to score in five consecutive World Cup matches. This was his first match of the 2026 World Cup. He also became the oldest player to score a World Cup hat-trick, surpassing Brazil's Ronaldo who scored one against Spain in 2018.
Messi started his World Cup career at age 18 in 2006, and exactly 20 years later — June 16, 2026 — he made history again. After the hat-trick, he was substituted to a standing ovation from nearly 70,000 fans in attendance.
With this win, Argentina — the reigning world champions — started their title defense impressively. Messi will have opportunities to break more records when Argentina faces Austria on June 22 in Dallas and Jordan on June 27. If he leads the team to victory, he will become the first Argentina captain to successfully defend a World Cup title, something even legend Diego Maradona never achieved.
