Lionel Messi scored three goals in Argentina’s 3-0 demolition of Algeria on June 16, tying Miroslav Klose’s all-time record of 16 FIFA World Cup goals. The match, played at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, doubled as Argentina’s opening defense of their World Cup title and Messi’s 200th international appearance.
At 38 years old, Messi became the oldest player to score a hat-trick in World Cup history. That’s exactly two decades after he scored his first World Cup goal at the 2006 tournament in Germany.
Three goals, one record, zero surprises
Messi opened the scoring in the 17th minute, then added his second in the 60th and completed the hat-trick in the 76th.
The hat-trick brought his career World Cup tally to 16 goals, pulling level with Germany’s Miroslav Klose, who set the record across four World Cup tournaments between 2002 and 2014. Klose needed 24 matches to reach that number.
