Messi equals all-time World Cup goals record with hat-trick against Algeria

Lionel Messi did something no man has ever done — play in six World Cups — and then did something only one man had done before: score 16 goals at the tournament.

On Tuesday night at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, the 38-year-old Argentina captain scored a hat-trick — his first ever at a World Cup — to equal Miroslav Klose's all-time record of 16 goals. The 3-0 win over Algeria was also his 200th international appearance.

Messi opened the scoring in the 17th minute with a curling strike that took him to 14 World Cup goals, tying him with German legend Gerd Muller and France's Kylian Mbappe. He moved to 15 in the 60th minute, pouncing on a rebound from Alexis Mac Allister's shot to go level with Brazilian great Ronaldo. Then in the 76th minute, he swept in a low finish from the edge of the area to reach 16. Four minutes later, he left the pitch to a standing ovation from the 69,045-strong crowd.

"It's an honour to be there, given what it means to stand alongside Klose or the others — Ronaldo is there too — but I don't think it means anything," Messi said after the match. "In the end, it's just a statistic and nothing more."

Messi first played at a World Cup as a teenager in 2006 in Germany. He led Argentina to the 2022 title in Qatar, beating France on penalties after a 3-3 draw in which Mbappe scored a hat-trick.

Mbappe also got off the mark on Tuesday, scoring twice in France's 3-1 win over Senegal. The double took him past Olivier Giroud as France's all-time leading scorer with 58 goals in 99 games. France coach Didier Deschamps backed his star: "There are still people out there who will criticise him but he's an extraordinary player."

In the same group, Norway beat Iraq 4-1 in their first World Cup appearance since 1998. Erling Haaland scored twice on his World Cup debut, taking his international tally to 57 goals in just 51 matches. Norway coach Stale Solbakken said: "You could see that he adapted to the occasion, the occasion wasn't too big for him."

Austria beat World Cup debutants Jordan 3-1 in the other Group J game. Romano Schmid fired Austria ahead in the 21st minute, but Ali Olwan scored Jordan's first ever World Cup goal in the 50th minute to level. An own goal from Yazan al-Arab in the 76th minute restored Austria's lead, and Marko Arnautovic added a stoppage-time penalty.