He wiped the tears with the front of his white-and-blue jersey — soaked through, clinging to him the way this tournament always has. And in that single, unguarded moment, Lionel Messi let the world see something he rarely shows: the weight he carries beyond the pitch.
“My tears after the first goal? I’ve had some tough days,” he said quietly in a post-match interview. “It wasn’t related to football. And those feelings were because of that.”
He didn’t elaborate. He didn’t need to. The crowd of 69,045 — most of them wearing his number — already understood. They had come to Kansas City not just to watch a football match between Argentina and Algeria, but to witness something rarer: a man playing through pain, private and professional, and turning it into something beautiful.
He scored three times.
The first came in the opening minutes — a nifty feed from Inter Miami teammate Rodrigo De Paul, finished with the kind of instinctive precision that only Messi possesses. The second arrived early in the second half, an opportunistic strike off a rebound that silenced any remaining doubts. The third, a crisp, composed effort moments before he was substituted off to a thunderous standing ovation, completed one of the most emotionally charged hat tricks in World Cup history. The final scoreline 3-0, told a clean, decisive story.
“I thank my teammates, the coaching staff and the delegation for helping me,” Messi said.
Twenty years to the day since his World Cup debut — when he scored against Serbia and Montenegro and announced himself to the world — Messi now stands level with Germany’s Miroslav Klose as the tournament’s all-time top scorer with 16 goals across a record six World Cup appearances. It was also the fifth consecutive World Cup match in which he has found the net, and his first hat trick on the grandest stage of all — the 61st of his career, the 11th for his country.
But records, he insists, are not why he plays.
“He doesn’t care about individual records,” said De Paul, the man who unlocked the first goal. “He prioritizes the team, and for us it’s incredible.”
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni, a man not easily given to hyperbole, could barely find the words. “At a loss for words about Leo. What can I say? He’s incredible.”
Messi confirmed as much. “It makes me very happy to have lived through everything that came my way,” he said. “What I’m living through now is the cherry on top. I’m very happy and grateful for this wonderful group. I enjoy it so much.”
“This is my sixth World Cup, and I still feel like I’m in good shape,” he said. “Fortunately, I’m doing well, and today we managed to win a tough match. It’s important to start the tournament with a victory in the first game, as that’s never easy in a World Cup.”
While Messi was rewriting history in Kansas City, the tournament’s other giants were also making their presence felt. Kylian Mbappe scored twice as France edged Senegal 3-1, moving to 14 World Cup goals and into a tie for fourth on the all-time list. Erling Haaland also bagged a brace as Norway dismantled Iraq 4-1. But even Haaland — a man not known for lavishing praise — paused to take in what he was watching. “Messi is a madman,” he posted on Snapchat as the hat trick unfolded.
“Class is permanent,” said Algeria coach Vladimir Petkovic, who could only admire from the other side. “He’s fortunate to have the privilege that the entire Argentina team works for him. And for a number of years now — decades — he’s done incredible things.”
