Lionel Messi made history with a hat-trick as Argentina beat Algeria 3-0 in their World Cup debut. With the competition already underway, the 2026 World Cup saw a new group begin its action as Group J brought Argentina against Algeria. In a match that should remain in history, Lionel Messi scored three goals to lead Argentina to a 3-0 victory. In the first half, there were not many chances, with a disallowed goal for Messi and another for Farès Chaïbi for offside, while not much else happened. That was until Messi received a through ball before shooting from distance to score the opening goal. What came next was not much different from the rest of the match. However, the gap between the teams grew after Alexis Mac Allister shot from distance and Messi scored after a poor rebound from Luca Zidane. Messi then scored again from a Nicolás González pass, firing from the edge of the box to complete the hat-trick and move him level with Miroslav Klose for the most goals in World Cup history, with 16.