Legendary Lionel Messi scored a stunning hat-trick against Argentina yesterday to give Argentina the perfect start to their World Cup title defence in Kansas.
The 38-year-old Argentina captain who plays his club football with Inter Miami, rolled back the years with a superb display on the biggest stage of the game to announce that he still has something to offer.
It was a perfect reminder of why he is regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time.
Messi hit target in the 17th, 60th and 76th minutes to now match the 16-goal World Cup record held by Miroslav Klose of Germany.
Now, only Kylian Mbappe of France will be his main rival as he is just two goals behind just like Gerd Muller (Germany) of blessed memory, while Ronaldo of Brazil has 15 goals across his own World Cup appearances before hanging his boots.
Messi who has overcome an injury doubt leading up this match, will be expected to set a new record at this World Cup.
The first of Messi’s three goals was a stunning effort as he received a pass from Rodrigo De Paul before firing an unstoppable shot past Algeria goalkeeper, Luca Zidane. The Algerian shot-stopper, son of France’s legend Zinedine, could have done much better with the second goal, parrying a strike from Alexis Mac Allister into the path of the former Barcelona forward, who calmly rolled the ball into the net.
The third goal was another trademark finish, after he received the ball on the edge of the box before curling a superb effort into the corner to complete his hat-trick and seal the victory.
Elsewhere, Austria made a 3-1 victorious return to the FIFA World Cup after 28 years absence, winning Group J clash with Jordan on their debut.
Jordan carved out the first opportunity inside two minutes, as a quick counter-attack resulted in Ehsan Haddad hitting the side netting. They also sat back to stifle the Austrian threat and hit them on the fast break.
RESULTS
Argentina 3-0 Algeria
Austria 3-1 Jordan
Portugal 1-1 DR Congo
England 4-2 Croatia
Ghana – Panama
TODAY
Uzbekistan v Colombia
Czech Rep v S’Africa
Switzerland v Bosnia & H
Canada v Qatar
