Inter Miami CF captain Leo Messi delivered a historic hat trick — his first at a FIFA World Cup — as defending champion Argentina opened its Group J campaign with a 3-0 victory over Algeria in the 2026 tournament.
The performance pushed Messi to 16 career World Cup goals, tying Germany’s Miroslav Klose for the most in the history of the tournament. Messi also became the first male player to appear at six different editions of the World Cup and reached 200 total overall appearances for Argentina, extending his record as the nation’s most-capped player.
Messi opened the scoring in the 17th minute, receiving a line-splitting ball from Inter Miami teammate Rodrigo De Paul down the middle before unleashing a long-range effort to the top-right corner. De Paul was credited with the assist on the strike.
The Inter Miami captain added his second in the 60th minute, striking from close range after pouncing on a rebound following an initial attempt from Alexis Mac Allister from outside the box. Messi completed the hat trick in the 76th minute, receiving a ball from Nicolás González just outside the box before slotting a trademark curler to the bottom-left corner.
Argentina’s starting lineup featured Emiliano Martínez in goal with a back four of Gonzalo Montiel, Cristian Romero, Lisandro Martínez and Facundo Medina. De Paul, Mac Allister and Enzo Fernández anchored the midfield, while Messi, Lautaro Martínez and Thiago Almada led the attack.
Algeria held the edge in possession at 52% to Argentina’s 48%, but the defending champions were more dangerous going forward with 9 shots to Algeria’s 6. Algeria’s goalkeeper was forced into 3 saves while Argentina’s Martínez was untested with 0. Argentina committed 13 fouls to Algeria’s 8, and each side earned 2 corners.
The result leaves Argentina at 1W-0L-1D with 3 points in Group J. Messi and Argentina continue their campaign with their second group fixture against Austria on June 22 at 1 p.m. ET at Dallas Stadium.