In the match between Argentina and Algeria in Group J of the 2026 World Cup taking place on the morning of June 17 (Vietnam time), Messi shone with a hat-trick to help the reigning world champions win convincingly.
In the 17th minute, the Argentina captain opened the score with a dribbling from midfield before unleashing a dangerous long-range shot that defeated the Algerian goalkeeper. This goal also helped Messi equal the record of 5 goals from outside the penalty area at the World Cup of Brazil legend Rivellino.
In the 60th minute, the striker born in 1987 continued to score to increase the score to 2-0 after a close-range finish. With this double, Messi increased the total number of goals in the World Cup finals to 15, equaling the achievement of Brazilian legend Ronaldo Nazario.
The historic milestone came in the 75th minute when Messi completed a hat-trick against Algeria. His 16th goal at the World Cup helped him equal the scoring record of German legend Miroslav Klose, thereby sharing the record for the most goals scored player in the history of the tournament.
With Argentina still having at least 2 group stage matches ahead and likely to go deep at the 2026 World Cup, Messi has every chance to surpass the milestone of 16 goals to exclusively occupy the number one position in the list of the greatest scorers in World Cup history.
Besides the scoring record, Messi is also in the group of very few players who scored in 5 different World Cups. Previously, Cristiano Ronaldo was the first to reach this milestone when scoring at World Cups from 2006 to 2022.
