Exactly 20 years after scoring his first goal at a World Cup, and on his 200th international appearance, Lionel Messi is still effortlessly producing moments of magic. Why would anybody doubt him?Messi’s hat-trick against Algeria helped holders Argentina make the perfect start to their title defence with a 3-0 victory. It was the forward’s 27th appearance across six editions of the competition. The floppy-haired teenager who scored against Serbia within minutes of coming off the bench on June 16, 2006 is now a veteran 38-year-old — but remains the centre of attention.“I don’t have the words to describe Messi,” Lionel Scaloni, Argentina’s head coach told reporters after the game. “For 20 years, he’s had us used to seeing things like this, and he inspires everyone who watches him play.”“The GOAT is on fire,” said midfielder Enzo Fernandez as he stopped to speak, while Rodrigo De Paul, Messi’s team-mate for Inter Miami and Argentina, described him as an “animal”.“What makes me happiest is that he’s enjoying it, he’s not carrying this weight he carried for so long,” De Paul told Argentinian broadcaster DSports. “Everybody knows his mentality, he only lets himself enjoy it a little bit because he’s focused on helping us, the team, but I think he’s good, he’s happy and I think that’s contagious in the group.”Earlier on Tuesday, the game’s next generation of elite attackers, who have been emerging from Messi’s shadow for what feels like an eternity, tried their best to take centre-stage.France striker Kylian Mbappe, who played with Messi at Paris Saint-Germain between 2021-2023, scored twice in his team’s 3-1 victory over Senegal, including a stunning long-range effort. Erling Haaland also scored twice, on his debut at a major international tournament, in Norway’s 4-1 win over Iraq.Mbappe’s second moved him on to 14 goals in 15 World Cup matches, two behind the competition’s leading all-time top scorer Miroslav Klose. Within a few hours, Messi had surged past him and gone level with former Germany striker Klose.Haaland responded to the Argentina result in a social media post with a crown emoji and the caption: “Messi is a madman.” Thomas Muller, who scored 10 goals in 19 World Cup matches for Germany, uploaded a picture on Instagram of him playing for Vancouver Whitecaps against Messi in MLS, also labelling him the GOAT.Messi, Mbappe and Haaland put on a show | World Cup Daily BriefingMegan Feringa and Amitai WinehouseMessi broke a silly amount of records with his exploits at the Kansas City Stadium.He stole one from Cameroon’s iconic striker Roger Milla by becoming the oldest player to score more than once in a World Cup match. At 38 years and 357 days, he then became the oldest player to score a hat-trick in the competition, eclipsing his rival Cristiano Ronaldo — who was 33 and 130 days old when he scored all of Portugal’s goals in a thrilling 3-3 draw with Spain at Russia 2018.No wonder Carlos Tevez and Sergio Aguero, Messi’s former international team-mates, bowed during their commentary duties. He will probably break more records over the next few weeks. The next one on his list, apart from overtaking Klose, should be becoming only the third player, after Just Fontaine in 1958 and Jairzinho in 1970, to score in six consecutive World Cup matches. He is currently on five — including the four games Argentina won in the knockout stages of 2022.“I swear to you, he doesn’t know, he doesn’t care (about breaking records),” De Paul added. “Sometimes we’re there in the room drinking maté and we’ll say to him: ‘Hey shorty, you’re one or two goals away from a record.’ He has no idea. I don’t know how that happens, but we tell him all the time and he doesn’t think about any of that. Sometimes we prod Leo to see if he can break records, and he ends up doing it. He’s incredible.”De Paul and Messi celebrate during Argentina’s 3-0 victory in Kansas City (Roberto Schmidt/ AFP via Getty Images)This was Algeria’s first appearance at a World Cup since 2014 and you had to feel a little bit of sympathy for the way they were picked apart. They might well also be frustrated that Messi stayed on the pitch after his left boot raked the back of Aissa Mandi’s right leg at 1-0.Mandi, Algeria’s captain, told reporters: “What made the difference is that they have a player who is ruthless, almost every chance he gets ends up in the back of the net. He (Messi) might be the best player of all time. We tried to shut him down as much as possible, but it didn’t work – he was too good for us.”Speaking on beIN Sports, ex-Manchester City winger Riyad Mahrez agreed: “They’ve got Messi. That made the difference.”Messi’s first goal was a fierce left-footed drive from outside the penalty area. He showed fantastic instincts for his second by pouncing on a rebound. His third was drilled into the bottom corner from the very edge of the penalty box. Algeria’s goalkeeper was Luca Zidane, the son of Zinedine Zidane. The 1998 World Cup winner with France was in the stands, adding another layer of intrigue to a remarkable performance.Messi is a threat from everywhere on the pitch and he has now scored more goals from outside the box at a World Cup than any other player since 1966. He is level on five with Brazil’s Rivellino.“Messi is playing with complete freedom,” Carli Lloyd, who won the Women’s World Cup twice with the United States, wrote on X. “He’s already achieved the ultimate goal by winning the World Cup, and that makes him even more dangerous this tournament. No pressure or expectations to live up to — just pure football. Enjoy every moment while we still can. There’s simply no-one else like him.”Argentina will face Austria and Jordan next in Group J (Roberto Schmidt /AFP via Getty Images)Messi also became only the second player to score at five different World Cups — Ronaldo could become the first to score at six on Wednesday when Portugal face the Democratic Republic of Congo.Failing to score in five games at the 2010 World Cup is the only time Messi’s superhuman standards dropped on this stage. He played every minute as Argentina won all of their group-stage matches and beat Mexico in the last 16 but were thrashed 4-0 by Germany in the quarter-finals.Messi does have further bragging rights over Ronaldo, though. He has scored nine times at the World Cup since the 41-year-old’s last goal for Portugal in a 3-2 group-stage victory over Ghana in 2022. And, of course, Messi went on to lift the trophy that year — something his great rival has not achieved.“Everything I’m experiencing now is a bonus,” Messi told reporters after the Algeria game.“I’ve been fortunate enough to achieve all my dreams — or even more than I ever dreamed of — both professionally and personally. Now I’m just enjoying this, being part of a wonderful group, feeling good and being able to enjoy it out on the pitch. This is far more than I could ever have imagined when I was a kid.”