KANSAS CITY — The thing about watching Lionel Messi in person is not his movement, or his incredible first touch, or the way he can almost telepathically control the ball, or even his ability to effortlessly switch gears from first to fifth on the door step of his 39th birthday.One of the striking things about watching the Argentine legend is the sound. First there is the absence of it for a split second—a hushed silence as everyone in the stadium can recognize that the No. 10 is about to do something special. Then, as brains catch up to what thousands of people are seeing unfold before their eyes, there is another beat of zero volume as everyone breathes deeply in anticipation.Finally, right about when Messi comes into contact with the ball, an initial low rumble starts to crescendo into loud and pure excitement. Even opposing fans, aware of what might be coming, are doing the same as they brace for what one of the greatest of all time is about to do to them. By the time the ball crosses the goal line, only the broadcast mics—and those close enough at field level—are left to make out the distinctive pop as it strikes the back of the net. For everyone else, there is just a cacophony of celebration.Such sequences of rising and falling sound, as if orchestrally arranged, were repeated time after time on Tuesday night at Arrowhead Stadium–typically one of the loudest in the world during the NFL games it typically plays host to. The Group J opener that reigning World Cup champions Argentina took 3-0 over Algeria did not produce the same kind of recorded heights on the decibel meter as the American version of football does in the same venue, but what transpired on the pitch resonated plenty loud enough for it to be heard around the globe all the same three times over. Lionel Messi Normalizing Amazing Messi lines up one of his many strikes on goal versus Algeria in Argentina’s win. | Nick Tre. Smith/Icon Sportswire/Getty ImagesIn an age-defying show, Messi was Messi, a messiah of soccer who made the game his yet again—taking the contest over in front of tens of thousands of adoring fans until he had produced a dazzling hattrick. It was his first on this stage and a historic one at that, as he equaled German striker Miroslav Klose for the most goals all-time in tournament history with 16. “Leo, it’s quite hard to explain. We are amazed by him even though we get to see him on a daily basis. He’s been the best for 20 years. He still pulls it off every single match," said manager Lionel Scaloni through a translator, shaking his head at times in disbelief. “You don’t have to be an Argentinian fan to admire what he’s done at age 38.”That’s certainly what tens of thousands came to do on the windswept plains of America this week. All over the city of fountains were dozens of Messi No. 10 shirts as if they were handed out for free at a corner gas station. They formed long lines around the corner at famous barbeque joints, such as Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que, and packed the patios of others like the more modern Q39. When not taking in the local cuisine, you could see hundreds of the traditional blue and white kits bearing the star’s name at any number of local parks alongside flags displaying fellow legend Diego Maradona. At convenience stores or in the FIFA Fan Zone downtown, the occasional Barcelona iteration was on full display. His current Inter Miami edition was, of course, sprinkled in by those who owed their allegiance to the man before the country he plays for over the course of the next few weeks. For those lucky enough to be in attendance and who survived hours worth of delays on the roadways outside the stadium as Messi became the first man to play across six World Cups, boy were they ever treated to a show worthy of the occasion. Even the opposition could do little but shake their head in disbelief. “Messi doing Messi things,” said Algeria midfielder Ibrahim Maza, who completed several dribbles and provided a decently robust attacking effort for his side’s first World Cup game in a decade. “I think I don’t need to explain. You just have to watch the game, you know it when you see it, Messi things.”Indeed, if you thought father time had come for Messi, you were reminded once again that was not the case as he danced through the final third with the same ease he does so regularly in his current domestic league, MLS. Rather appropriately this time around however, he did so wearing shiny new adidas boots in the national team colors which bore the inscription El Último Tango—the last dance—on the bottom. Messi’s fans come from all over the world, not just Argentina | Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty ImagesIf this is a mere taste of what we’re getting from him this tournament, then a successful defense of the World Cup title may be the least of the rest of the field’s worries. “Class is permanent. We’re not talking about any old footballer," a stoic Vladimir Petkovic, the Fennecs’ coach, remarked through a translator. “He has the privilege that the entire Argentina team works for him and supports him. And for a number of years now, for decades now, he’s done incredible things. Argentina had 10 shots today and seven of those came from Messi.”Indeed, it was almost as if Messi had seen the outrageous performance of Kylian Mbappe for France earlier in the day and the theatrics that Erling Braut Haaland put on for Norway out in Boston. Not bad, he may have muttered to himself while warming up ahead of his 200th cap for La Albiceleste as he extended his World Cup appearance record to 27 in tandem. But what the next generation can do, still doesn’t quite compare to what the standard bearer of the last 20 years can still accomplish at his peak.A Hat-trick to Savor Lionel Messi in a field of his own. | Alex Pantling - FIFA/FIFA/Getty ImagesMessi’s first goal was an easy example to point to. After receiving a perfectly weighted through ball from club teammate Rodrigo De Paul, he swiftly turned to make a deft touch with his left foot and carried the ball up field before firing with still remarkable power for some of his stature. The ball did make contact with keeper Luca Zidane’s outstretched hands, but deflected its way to the back of the net in the 17th minute. It was the first official shot on goal for the Argentinians and somehow made a mockery of the 0.09 xG it generated.Messi’s second in the 60th minute was a sharp contrast and perhaps one of the easiest he’s ever scored in the tournament when setting aside the penalties he is near-automatic on. It was also an excellent reminder that despite being eight days away from celebrating another trip around the sun, he recognizes the game so cerebrally that he might as well be Neo from the Matrix movies with the way he bends reality to his liking.To cap it all off in the 76th minute, to make it worth the eye-watering price of admission for most in the building, was something Messi had done over and over across many of the 900+ goals in his career. After finding an open space between lines to receive a back pass that he expertly controlled, all he did next was launch a strike right at the edge of the box that flew into the bottom left corner of the net for the loudest reaction of the night. — Sports Illustrated FC (@SI_FootballClub) June 17, 2026Even his teammates were in almost stunned disbelief, with a few pausing for a second to do a double-take before eventually coming over to celebrate in unison as they had done twice previously. Before midfielder Alexis Mac Allister had even unleashed a long range shot from outside the box, Messi was subtly moving at an angle slightly away from goal—deftly understanding where Zidane (son of the great Zinedine Zidane) would spill it if he was unable to control it. That he could not, spraying it right onto Messi waiting inside foot for a deft tap-in.“Everybody sees him as a god and they also see him as just another pal from the neighborhood whenever they need to have a conversation with him," said Scaloni, who was teammates with Messi during his first World Cup in 2006 in Germany and was teary-eyed after subbing him off after 80 minutes. “We’re all human beings. Football will someday come to an end. It’s great that everybody gets to enjoy it.”Through every sense of the word, that they did. From the sound of silence to the roars that follow, three times in a World Cup performance that etched its way into history.READ THE LATEST WORLD CUP NEWS, ANALYSIS AND INSIGHT FROM SI FCAdd us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow