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Messi Ties World Cup Scoring Record With Hat-Trick

Wednesday, June 17, 2026

Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick as Argentina beat Algeria 3-0 in their World Cup Group J match. The three goals pulled him level with Miroslav Klose for the most goals ever scored at World Cups, 16. It was also Messi's first World Cup hat-trick, and it came on the same day he earned his 200th cap for Argentina.

It was the third goal of the night that actually drew him level with Klose, his 16th in 27 World Cup games for Argentina. That same goal also put him outright top of the scoring charts for this year's tournament. Before the hat-trick he had been bunched together with a group of players on two goals each, including Erling Haaland, Kai Havertz, Kylian Mbappe and Motherwell's Elijah Just. The treble moved him clear of all of them.

The goals also landed exactly 20 years after Messi scored his very first World Cup goal, and stretched his record for World Cup finals appearances to 27, more than anyone else in the game's history. 

Earlier the same day, Mbappe had briefly jumped above Messi on the all-time scoring list with a brace against Senegal that took him level with Gerd Muller on 14 career goals. Messi's hat-trick put that right a few hours later.

Messi also became only the second player ever to score at five different World Cups. Cristiano Ronaldo is the only other man to manage it. And simply by taking the field, Messi got to another milestone first too: he became the first man to play at six different World Cups, beating Ronaldo to it by only a few hours.

Argentina took the lead when Rodrigo de Paul, Messi's teammate at Inter Miami, played him through with a pass. Messi ran onto it and shot from outside the box. Algeria goalkeeper Luca Zidane, son of World Cup winner Zinedine Zidane, got a hand to the ball but could not keep it out.

Messi had actually scored even earlier, in the fifth minute, but that goal was ruled out for offside. Algeria nearly took the lead themselves soon after, when Fares Chaibi got past Argentina keeper Emiliano Martinez, only for that effort to be flagged offside as well. Zinedine Zidane watched from the stands as his son tried to keep Messi quiet.

Algeria settled after that scare and started to create chances of their own. Chaibi had two more attempts before halftime, a header and a shot from distance, but neither found the target. Argentina were happy to sit on their lead instead of chasing a second goal, and were glad to hear the whistle for the break.

Argentina came out sharper in the second half. Messi shot over the bar, and De Paul chose the wrong pass during a promising break, but the second goal still arrived soon after. Zidane could only push a shot from Alexis Mac Allister back into play, and Messi was on hand to finish off the rebound.

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni had already made a double substitution before the hour mark, sending on Julian Alvarez for Lautaro Martinez and showing the depth of his squad. Zidane then denied Messi a quick third with a strong save, and Algeria substitute Houssem Aouar shot just wide as his team searched for a way back into the game.

Messi finished his hat-trick with a left-footed shot that beat Zidane and went in off the post. He stayed on the field until the 80th minute, when he was replaced by Nico Paz.

The win gives Argentina a strong start as they try to defend the title they won in 2022, something even Diego Maradona's Argentina teams in the 1980s never pulled off. It also answers some of the doubts that had built up before the tournament, after a hamstring injury put his place at risk and questions were raised about whether playing in MLS had slowed him down. 

The referee was Poland's Szymon Marciniak, who also took charge of the 2022 World Cup final.

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