Lionel Messi became the first player to appear at six World Cups and marked the milestone with a hat-trick in Argentina’s 3-0 win over Algeria. The result also pushed him to the 16th World Cup goal, keeping him tied with the tournament’s top scoring mark.
Messi Reaches Six World Cups
Messi was making his 200th international appearance as he added another entry to a career that began at World Cup level as a teenager in Germany 20 years earlier. He beat Cristiano Ronaldo to the six-World-Cup milestone by one day, a narrow edge in a race that had been building around the tournament.
The Argentina forward’s three goals gave the match its cleanest edge. He finished as the central figure in a game that ended 3-0 and carried the kind of individual line that turns a routine group result into a record book marker.
Mbappé And Haaland Add Weight
Messi’s night sat alongside two other headline performances that kept the tournament’s biggest names in view. Kylian Mbappé scored twice in France’s 3-1 win over Senegal and moved to 14 World Cup goals, while Erling Haaland scored two in Norway’s 4-1 win over Iraq.
Mbappé’s goals came in his 99th appearance for France and lifted him to 58 international goals. Olivier Giroud responded on One with, “Congratulations Kylian” and, “I’m happy for him. It makes sense, it was expected. He will beat every single record – the number of caps and goals.”
Ronaldo Race Tightens
Messi’s six-tournament mark landed one day before Ronaldo could have matched it, giving the Argentine the first claim to a line no player had reached before. Gianni Infantino was in Kansas watching Messi’s match, but the story on the field was the same from start to finish: three goals, one record, and a milestone that now belongs to Messi alone.
After the final whistle, Messi said, “To enjoy this with my family, with my teammates, the ones who are always there, is a really beautiful moment. The squad, it’s a very united, very strong group. I feel good; we were lucky enough to win a tough match. It’s important to start off with a win in the first game. I’m grateful to the fans, because once again they’ve shown that Argentina is crazy about this – we packed the sta”
