KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The nation of Argentina descended upon a midsize Midwestern city, and their hero gave them pure magic.
Lionel Messi, who turns 39 years old later this month, scored his first-ever World Cup hat trick in Argentina’s tournament opener against Algeria to tie Miroslav Klose as the men’s World Cup all-time leading scorer.
The captain of the defending World Cup champions played about two-thirds of the 3–0 win on a temperate summer evening at the Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium.
Argentina set up its base camp in Kansas City at the training center of MLS’s Sporting KC, a convenient landing spot with one match in Missouri and two in Dallas. Supporters began arriving earlier this month; three fans rode their bicycles all the way from Argentina.
“When Argentina was drawn into Group J as the Pot 1 team, we all took a deep breath,” Pam Kramer, the CEO of Kansas City’s host committee, told Front Office Sports. “The next day when the schedule came out and we saw that Argentina was here, the Netherlands, those are some pretty great matches. I could not be more excited about it.”
