Lionel Messi staged a clinical show with a spectacular hattrick as Argentina secured a 3-0 win against Algeria in Group J match in Kansas City. With this goal, Messi now equates Germany’s Miroslav Klose’s legendary record of 16 strikes in the tournament’s history. He officially surpassed his longtime rival Cristiano Ronaldo as the only male players to score in five different editions of World Cup. He even surpassed Gerd Muller.
The reigning world cup champions ran out 3-0 winners at Arrowhead stadium with the score made by Messi alone. He was drawn to a standing ovation by the crowd in the79th minute of the match. The onslaught began with a stunning 17-minute goal, in second half where Argentina was struggling to create clear opportunities.
He broke the deadlock, with a powerful long-range strike that Luca Zidane missed. The second arrived when Alexis Mac Allister’s shot was spilled by the goalkeeper and Messi reacted instinctively to turn in the rebound. The third was an explicit shot in every sense. Nico Gonzalez played the ball square to Messi on the edge of the area, one touch shifted it onto the outside of his left foot, and a sweeping, controlled strike guided the ball powerfully into the bottom left corner to put the match well beyond Algeria’s reach. He then completed his historic hat-trick-the first World Cup hat-trick of his iconic career-with a clinical 16th tournament strike to put La Albiceleste 3-0 ahead.
The Argentina captain celebrated matching Klose’s all-time goal tally whilst simultaneously marking his 200th international appearance for Argentina in his record-breaking sixth World Cup.