Lionel Messi etched another line into World Cup folklore on Tuesday night, scoring the first hat-trick of his tournament career to draw level with Miroslav Klose as the competition's all-time leading goalscorer. The 38-year-old struck three times as defending champions Argentina opened their 2026 campaign with a commanding 3-0 win over Algeria in front of a packed Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
His treble took his World Cup tally to 16 goals, matching the mark Klose set for Germany across four tournaments between 2002 and 2014. No player in the history of the men's World Cup has scored more.
A record 20 years in the making
The milestone arrived exactly 20 years to the day since Messi made his World Cup debut against Serbia and Montenegro in 2006, a match in which the teenager also found the net. He is now only the second player to score at five different editions of the tournament, and at 38 he became the oldest man ever to register a World Cup hat-trick, surpassing the record Cristiano Ronaldo set against Spain in 2018.
It was also Messi's 200th cap for Argentina and the 61st hat-trick of his career, yet remarkably the first he has managed on the World Cup stage. Already the only player to appear at six World Cups, he continues to add landmarks to a career that was thought to have peaked with the trophy itself in Qatar.
How the goals came
Messi opened the scoring on 17 minutes, lashing a left-footed effort from the edge of the area past Luca Zidane, son of the France great Zinedine. He added a second early in the second half before completing the set moments before being substituted, collecting a return pass from Nico Gonzalez and sliding a typically composed finish into the bottom corner.
The Argentina captain was visibly emotional after his first goal, wiping away tears. He later explained the moment had little to do with football, saying only that he had been through "some difficult days" but was grateful for the constant support of his teammates and the wider delegation.
The race for the outright record
Messi now shares top spot on the all-time list with Klose, sitting two clear of Brazil's Ronaldo on 15. France captain Kylian Mbappe, who scored twice in a 3-1 win over Senegal earlier on Tuesday, is the nearest active challenger on 14. You can see how the leading marksmen compare in our rundown of the top 10 all-time World Cup goalscorers, alongside the wider World Cup records and all-time stats.
Messi was typically understated afterwards, describing it as an honour to stand alongside Klose and Ronaldo but insisting the numbers were ultimately just statistics. With Argentina looking sharp and a deep run on the cards, that humility may be tested. One more goal would see Messi stand alone at the summit of the World Cup goalscoring charts, and on Tuesday's evidence the shared record looks unlikely to last long.
For a player who has already won every honour the game can offer, the chance to claim the World Cup's most prestigious individual record adds another tantalising subplot to Argentina's title defence. Messi, who turns 39 next week, shows little sign of fading just yet.