06/16/26 10:32:00
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06/16 22:30 CDT Lionel Messi ties Klose's World Cup goals record with his first
hat trick as Argentina tops Algeria
Lionel Messi ties Klose's World Cup goals record with his first hat trick as
Argentina tops Algeria
By DAVE SKRETTA
AP Sports Writer
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) --- Lionel Messi delivered his first World Cup hat trick
while matching Miroslav Klose's career tournament scoring record Tuesday night,
giving thousands of Argentina fans packed inside of Arrowhead Stadium for a
match against Algeria a moment they will never forget.
Messi scored his first goal in the opening minutes off a nifty feed from Inter
Miami teammate Rodrigo De Paul, the second early in the second half, and the
third moments before subbing out to a standing ovation, helping La Albiceleste
begin the defense of their World Cup crown with a dominant 3-0 victory over Les
Fennecs.
The trio of goals came 20 years to the day that Messi made his World Cup debut
in a match against Serbia and Montenegro --- he scored in that one, too --- and
made the pride of Rosario only the second player to score in five editions of
the tournament.
Messi has 16 goals in his six World Cup appearances, and it seems inevitable
that Klose's record will fall in the coming weeks. The hat trick was the 61st
of his career and his 11th while playing in the blue-and-white kit of the
national team.
It also was the fifth straight World Cup game in which Messi has scored.
"At a loss for words about Leo. What can I say? He's incredible," Argentina
coach Lionel Scaloni said. "Everyone in football wants to see him and enjoys
it."
His hat trick also upstaged two of soccer's other big stars --- Kylian Mbapp
of France and Erling Haaland of Norway --- who had big games of their own on
Tuesday. Mbapp scored twice in France's 3-1 win over Senegal to move into a
tie for fourth on the World Cup goals list with 14, while Haaland scored twice
for Norway in its 4-1 victory over Iraq.
"Messi is a madman," Haaland said in a post on Snapchat.
Messi, who turns 39 next week, had been dealing with a minor hamstring injury
with Inter Miami that had slowed him in the lead-up to the World Cup. But the
eight-time winner of the Ballon d'Or, which honors global soccer's best player,
had no problems in a tuneup last week with Iceland, scoring on a penalty kick
while playing 20 minutes in a sharp performance.
Messi's appearance against Algeria was the 200th of his international career,
which began in 2005 at age of 18. The only players with more are Portugal's
Cristiano Ronaldo, who will play his 229th on Wednesday, and Bader al-Mutawa,
who played in 202 for Kuwait.
Messi and Ronaldo are the only players to have scored in five World Cups.
Argentina is among four national teams making their base camps in the Kansas
City metro. And much as it has the rest of the world, Messi-mania has swept
through the area ever since La Albiceleste's arrival in the Heartland about two
weeks ago.
On match day, thousands of fans wearing his No. 10 jersey trekked into the home
of the NFL's Chiefs on the outskirts of Kansas City, singing odes to their hero
from Rosario. Meanwhile, during a watch party at the downtown Power & Light
District, a goat accompanied by former NFL quarterback-turned Fox broadcaster
Jameis Winston came on stage wearing an Argentina jersey.
The humorous moment seemed to have foreshadowed a big night for Messi when he
scored an hour later, and the argument that he's soccer's GOAT --- the greatest
of all time --- is becoming no argument at all with every match he plays.
___
AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/fifa-world-cup
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