Lionel Messi just reminded the world that age is, in fact, just a number. The 39-year-old scored all three goals in Argentina’s 3-0 victory over Algeria on June 17, tying Miroslav Klose’s all-time World Cup goals record with 17 career strikes in the tournament. It was his first-ever World Cup hat-trick, arriving exactly 20 years after his World Cup debut.
What actually happened on the pitch
Argentina, the defending World Cup champions, dispatched Algeria in what was a group-stage match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. All three goals came from Messi’s boots, giving him 17 World Cup goals across his career. That puts him level with Germany’s Miroslav Klose, who set the record back in 2014. Klose needed 24 matches across four World Cups to reach that number. Messi has been chasing it across five tournaments spanning two decades.
The 20th anniversary detail is almost too cinematic. Messi made his World Cup debut in 2006 as a teenager, and here he is, two decades later, still producing moments that make defenders reconsider their career choices.
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