Read 4 minutesUpdated: June 17, 2026 02:38 PM IST
With a hat-trick in Argentina’s Group J opener against Algeria at the Kansas City Stadium on Wednesday, World Cup winner Lionel Messi not only tied Germany’s Miroslav Klose for the top scorer in FIFA World Cup history with 16 goals, but also became the oldest player to score a hat-trick at the World Cup. The 38-year-old Argentina star’s hat-trick came 20 years after his FIFA World Cup debut when he came on as a substitute in a group match against Serbia and Montenegro at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Messi’s team-mate Rodrigo De Paul, who assisted Messi for his first goal of the match, spoke about how Messi doesn’t care about the record and how Messi is currently enjoying his football without the pressure.
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“I swear he doesn’t care. Sometimes we’ll be in a room drinking and we’ll tell him ‘Hey man, you’re only one or two away’ or whatever. And I swear he has no idea. I don’t know how it works. He’s an animal. The thing that pleases me the most is that I think he’s enjoying himself. He knows how long everyone is feeling his weight. The mentality is he doesn’t let himself enjoy things because he’s focused on helping us and the team, always. But I see him happy in the group.
Eight-time Ballon d’Or winner and 2022 World Cup winner Messi started his 200th international match on Wednesday. The 38-year-old became the third male player in the world to play 200 or more international matches after Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo (228) and Kuwait’s Badr Al-Mutawa (200). Messi’s hat-trick makes him the oldest and youngest player to score for Argentina at the World Cup. Argentina scored at the 2006 World Cup against Serbia and Montenegro at the age of 18 years and 358 days.
Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni kisses Argentina’s Lionel Messi. (file photo)
De Paul shared how the Argentina team benefits from having Messi in their ranks and how Messi prioritizes the team. “It’s an advantage to have Lion Because of how he manipulates and pushes the group forward. Because that’s who he is. He doesn’t care about individual records, he prioritizes the group and that’s incredible for us. We’re here to compete, to keep training, and the goal is always to get there on day one and leave on day one. Anything can happen, but we must always respect our nature and our values,” added de Paul.
Wednesday also marked the first time that Argentina won their opening match at a FIFA World Cup as defending champions, after losing their opening matches at the 1982 and 1990 World Cups. Messi’s opener against Algeria made him only the second player after Cristiano Ronaldo to score in five World Cups, and Wednesday’s match also saw Messi become the first player to play in six World Cups. Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni also praised Messi after the match. “There are no words; whatever I said would be unnecessary. He’s been doing it for 20 years, that’s what people in this game want to see. He doesn’t give up on one ball, that’s our style. We can get away with it,” Scaloni said after the match.