- Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick, leading Argentina to a comfortable 3-0 victory over Algeria in their opening World Cup 2026 match.
- Messi was seen wiping away tears after his first goal, later explaining the emotion was “completely unrelated to the sport”, and was instead linked to “difficult, complicated days”.
- The 38-year-old's treble brought his total World Cup goals to 16, equalling Miroslav Klose's all-time record.
- Messi is now one goal ahead of Brazilian star Ronaldo and two ahead of German legend Gerd Muller and Kylian Mbappe.
- Despite equalling the record, Messi said: “It’s a statistic and nothing more. While it’s an honour to be able to compete with all of them, it doesn’t mean anything to me.”
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