With questions surrounding his fitness dominating headlines ahead of Argentina’s opening match at the FIFA World Cup 2026, Lionel Messi emphatically silenced any doubts on Tuesday night. The Argentine superstar shattered multiple records during a masterful, vintage display in Kansas City, leading his side to a dominant 3-0 victory over Algeria.
The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner opened the scoring in the 17th minute with a superb curling effort from outside the box. However, after celebrating the breakthrough with his teammates, the 38-year-old Argentina captain was visibly emotional, wiping away tears on the pitch—a moment that quickly caught the attention of fans worldwide.
Following the final whistle, Messi was asked about the reason behind his emotional reaction. The Inter Miami star revealed that his tears had nothing to do with footballing pressure, but rather some heavy personal challenges behind the scenes. “Honestly, completely unrelated to the sport, I went through some difficult, complicated days,” Messi admitted.
The legendary forward went on to express his deep gratitude to the national team camp for rallying behind him during a tough week. “I’m grateful to the entire delegation, to my teammates. They were always there for me, as always. They gave me a lot of strength to get through this, and that’s all,” he said.
On a massive night of football where fellow global stars Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland also began their respective World Cup campaigns by scoring braces, it was Messi who ultimately stole the spotlight. The historic performance marked the very first World Cup hat-trick of his illustrious career.
The three-goal masterclass took Messi’s overall World Cup tally to 16 goals, drawing him level with German legend Miroslav Klose’s all-time tournament record. Despite the monumental achievement, the humble captain insisted that individual milestones are secondary to the team’s ultimate goal.
“Honestly, no [it doesn’t carry personal importance],” Messi stated. “It’s an honour to be there because of what it means to be there next to Klose, Ronaldo is there too, but I don’t think it means anything. Mbappé is there, he scored two today. It’s a statistic and nothing more. While it’s an honour to be able to compete with all of them, it doesn’t mean anything to me. Ronaldo, from what I saw, was one of the greatest and he’s not in first place, so it all comes down to a statistic.