Messi has his first World Cup hat trick as defending champion Argentina beats Algeria 3-0 in opener
KANSAS CITY (USA): (Jun 17) Lionel Messi registered his first World Cup hat trick while moving into a tie for first on the tournament’s career scoring list, sending defending champion Argentina to a dominant 3-0 victory over Algeria in its group-stage opener.
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 from a heavily pro-Argentina crowd.
The goals came 20 years to the day that Messi made his World Cup debut for Argentina in a match against Serbia and Montenegro — he scored in that one, too — and gave him 16 for his career, putting him in a tie with Germany’s Miroslav Klose for the career record.
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