Exactly 20 years ago to the day, Lionel Messi made his World Cup debut in a match against Serbia and Montenegro. Two decades later, on that same date, the 39-year-old Lionel Messi wrote one of the great epics in football history in Kansas City. With a hat-trick against Algeria, Messi not only got Argentina’s World Cup campaign off to a stunning start but also drew level with the record for the tournament’s all-time top scorer.
Here is the full list of the world records Lionel Messi broke and set in this single match against Algeria:
1. Oldest hat-trick man in World Cup history: When Messi completed his first World Cup hat-trick against Algeria, he was 38 years and 357 days old. With it, he broke Cristiano Ronaldo’s eight-year-old record to claim the world record for the oldest player to score a hat-trick at a World Cup. Ronaldo had scored his hat-trick against Spain in 2018 at the age of 33 years and 130 days.
2. Youngest and oldest scorer in Argentina’s history: After this hat-trick, Messi is now both the youngest and the oldest goal-scorer in Argentina’s World Cup history. He scored his first goal against Serbia in 2006 at just 18, and today, at 39, he scored a hat-trick.
3. World Cup all-time top scorer (level with Klose): By putting the ball in Algeria’s net three times, Messi took his total World Cup goal tally to 16. With it, he drew level with the record of Germany’s legendary striker Miroslav Klose, the all-time top scorer at the World Cup. Just one more goal will put him alone at the top.
4. First player in history to appear at six World Cups: The moment he stepped onto the pitch, Messi achieved the unique distinction of becoming the first and only player in football history to play in six different World Cup editions (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 and 2026).
5. Scoring at five different World Cups: Messi earned the honour of becoming the second footballer in the world, after Cristiano Ronaldo, to score at five different World Cup editions. He has now scored at the 2006, 2014, 2018, 2022 and 2026 editions, missing out only at the 2010 World Cup.
6. A ‘double century’ of international matches: The match against Algeria was Messi’s 200th international appearance in Argentina’s sky-blue and white jersey. He became only the third player in world football history to reach this rare milestone. Ahead of him are only Kuwait’s Bader Al-Mutawa (202 matches) and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo (228 matches).
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