Published on 6/17/2026
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Last update: 07:16 (Mecca time)
Lionel Messi made an amazing performance against Algeria and led Argentina to achieve its first victory in the World Cup in 2026 with three goals to none.
With the Argentine legend’s hat-trick, his tally reached 16 goals in his World Cup career, tying him with Miroslav Klose as the top scorer in the history of the tournament, but he did not only achieve this number, but also achieved a handful of other important numbers.
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Writing history
Messi scored a hat-trick against Algeria, bringing his tally to 16 World Cup goals with Argentina, exactly 20 years after his first goal, during a 6-0 win over Serbia and Montenegro in Germany in 2006.
Messi also scored more goals from outside the penalty area in the World Cup than any other player since 1966, with five goals, equal to the Brazilian player Rivelino. He is also only the second player to score in five different World Cups, after Cristiano Ronaldo.
This is the 12th hat-trick for a South American player in a World Cup, with the Argentines scoring all four of the last hat-tricks: Lionel Messi in 2026, Gonzalo Higuain in 2010, and Gabriel Batistuta in 1994 and 1998.
Messi has become the oldest player to score more than one goal in a World Cup match, at the age of 38 years and 357 days, surpassing the previous record of Roger Milla at the age of 38 years and 34 days.
Significant numbers
Rodrigo De Paul provided his 13th assist in his 88th match for the Argentine national team.
Argentina recorded its biggest win in a World Cup opener since 1994, when it beat Greece 4-0 in the United States, another match that saw a hat-trick scored, then scored by Gabriel Batistuta.
Argentina has won its last seven World Cup matches against African teams, since losing the first such match against Cameroon in the opening of the 1990 World Cup.
Algerian failure
After avoiding defeat in its opening World Cup match in its first two appearances – a win in 1982 and a draw in 1986 – Algeria has lost its opening match in each of its last three appearances in the tournament: in 2010, 2014 and 2026.
Algeria failed to score a shot on goal in a World Cup match for the first time.
