Messi Hat-Trick Equals Klose’s World Cup Record as Argentina Beat Algeria 3-0
Lionel Messi marked the 20th anniversary of his first World Cup goal in the most fitting way possible, scoring a hat-trick to fire Argentina to a comfortable 3-0 group-stage win over Algeria — and in doing so drew level with Miroslav Klose as the tournament’s all-time leading goalscorer.
According to The Guardian, the match took place on Tuesday evening with nearly 70,000 supporters in attendance. Algeria’s Ibrahim Maza, the Bayern Munich and Algeria midfielder, perhaps summed it up best when asked what made Messi unplayable on the night. “Messi things,” he said with a smile, adding that the Argentine “can decide the game on his own.”
And decide it he did. Messi’s three clinically-taken finishes left Algeria without answer and pushed Argentina firmly to the brink of the knockout rounds. You can follow the latest group positions on our live standings.
The timing of the performance adds another layer of romance to the story. It was precisely 20 years to the day since Messi scored his first World Cup goal for Argentina in the 2006 group stage against Serbia and Montenegro — a strike that made him the country’s youngest-ever World Cup goalscorer. On Tuesday, he became their oldest, surpassing former Argentina forward Martín Palermo’s record by more than two full years.
Messi himself was typically modest about the milestone, telling reporters after the game: “It’s an honour to be there, for what it means to be next to Klose… at the end of the day it’s just a statistic and nothing more.” His Argentina and Inter Miami teammate Rodrigo De Paul, who assisted Messi’s first goal, was more forthcoming about his captain’s indifference to personal records. “I swear he doesn’t care,” De Paul said. “Sometimes we’ll be in a room drinking mate and we’ll tell him ‘hey man, you’re just one away or two away’ — and I swear he has no idea.”
Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni was visibly emotional at the final whistle. “There are no words; anything I say would be superfluous,” he said. “It’s what he’s been doing for 20 years.”
For UK punters tracking Argentina’s progress through the World Cup 2026 hub, this result all but confirms their place in the last 16, with Messi showing few signs of slowing down despite his age — even if his legs might not be quite as quick as that mop-haired teenager of 2006.