Defending champions Argentina began their FIFA World Cup title defence emphatically on Wednesday morning, cruising to a 3-0 victory over Algeria at Arrowhead Stadium, inspired by a historic hat-trick from captain Lionel Messi.
The Argentine superstar delivered a masterclass in the Group J opener, scoring his first-ever World Cup hat-trick and becoming only the second player in history to reach 16 World Cup goals. The treble saw Messi draw level with Germany legend Miroslav Klose at the top of the tournament’s all-time scoring chart.
The match started at a frenetic pace, with both teams having goals ruled out inside the opening eight minutes.
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Messi thought he had handed Argentina an early lead in the fifth minute, but his effort was chalked off for offside. Algeria then suffered a similar setback moments later when Fares Chaibi’s composed finish, set up by Ibrahim Maza, was overturned following a VAR review.
Argentina gradually assumed control and finally broke the deadlock in the 17th minute. A neat exchange between Messi and Rodrigo De Paul opened up the Algerian defence, allowing the captain to curl a trademark effort into the top corner.
Algeria remained resilient and competitive for much of the contest, but Argentina’s quality eventually proved too much.
Messi doubled the lead on the hour mark, reacting quickest to a rebound inside the box before firing a low finish beyond the goalkeeper.
The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner completed his memorable night in the 76th minute. Receiving a clever pass from Nicolas Gonzalez on the edge of the area, Messi shifted inside his marker and whipped a superb strike into the bottom corner to seal his hat-trick and Argentina’s opening victory.
The result gives Lionel Scaloni’s side a dream start to their World Cup campaign as they seek to become the first nation since Brazil in 1962 to successfully defend the title.
Argentina will next face Austria in their second Group J fixture, while Algeria must secure a positive result against Jordan to keep their qualification hopes alive.