Just a few hours ago, French star Kylian Mbappe started his FIFA World Cup 2026 journey with two goals against Senegal, as he reached the World Cup goal tally to 14, the joint third most goals in tournament history. Now, the defending champions Argentina have sent a strong message to the world, while the skipper Lionel Messi recorded his first World Cup hat-trick to create a new history.
The three-time World Cup winners and defending champions Argentina faced Algeria in the Group J game of the tournament on Wednesday night. Argentina dominated in the game, majorly due to Lionel Messi’s unstoppable performances.
After Algeria’s early goal was cancelled out due to an offside offence, Lionel Messi scored his first goal of the World Cup 2026 in the 17th minute. Rodrigo de Paul delivered a key pass to the skipper, who only had to beat the Algerian goalie Luca Zidane, the son of Zinedine Zidane, and Messi finished it unsurprisingly.
Messi scored his next goal exactly in an hour mark. While Alexis Mac Allister’s outside the box grounded shot Zidane failed to hold, Messi netted that to complete his brace. In the 76th minute, Messi netted just from outside the box top record his first World Cup hat-trick.
Lionel Messi: One Goal Away From Creating World Cup History
With a hat-trick, Lionel Messi has recorded 16 goals in the FIFA World Cup, the joint-most goals by a player in FIFA World Cup history. Former German star Miroslav Klose previously held the record alone with 16 World Cup goals, which he set the record after surpassing Brazilian Ronaldo’s 15 World Cup goals record in the World Cup 2014.
