Lionel Messi opened Argentina’s World Cup defense run with a special hat-trick, his first ever in the tournament in a 3-0 win vs. Algeria in Kansas City on Tuesday.
Messi, who turns 39 on June 24, scored his first goal in the 17th minute when Inter Miami teammate Rodrigo De Paul delivered a perfect splitting ball that broke Algeria’s mid-block. Messi then turned and ran into space before drilling one past goalie Luca Zidane.
Messi made it a brace in the 60th minute and then made it a hat-trick in the 76th minute with another curling effort with his left boot. It marked his first ever World Cup hat-trick.
Messi’s 16-goal tally repasses the mark French star Kylian Mbappe reached earlier Tuesday in a 3-1 result vs. Senegal. Klose is the initial holder of the 16-goal record, and either former Paris Saint-Germain star is in pole position to break it.
Original reporting: NBC Connecticut — read the source article.
