Lionel Messi made history on Tuesday night, equaling Miroslav Klose's record for the most goals in men's World Cups – 16 – after a hat-trick led Argentina to a 3-0 victory over Algeria, UNN reports, citing ESPN.
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The hat-trick was the 11th of Messi's international career, but his first at a World Cup. At 38, he became the oldest player to score three goals in a single match at the tournament. He finished the game late in the second half to a standing ovation from a passionate Argentine crowd at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
"It is an honor for me to be among the best, to be alongside Klose and [Brazil's] Ronaldo, who is also there. But it means nothing," Messi said after the game. "[Kylian] Mbappé is also here; he scored twice today. In the end, it's just statistics and nothing more."
"It's an honor to compete with them, but it means nothing. For me, Ronaldo, whom I watched and who is one of the greatest, is not at the top. So it's just statistics," he noted.
When Messi took the field for the opening group stage match for defending champions Argentina — his 200th appearance for the national team — he also became the first player to participate in six World Cups.
Messi broke the record of five World Cups held by Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal); Antonio Carbajal, Andrés Guardado, and Rafael Márquez (all from Mexico); and Lothar Matthäus (Germany). Ronaldo is set to equal this record in Portugal's opening match against Congo on Wednesday.
Messi put Argentina ahead early in the first half with a left-footed strike from outside the penalty area. He then scored twice in the second half to complete his hat-trick and equal Klose's record of 16 goals for Germany.
The Argentina captain broke into tears after his first goal.
"Why was I crying? It was something completely unrelated to football," Messi said after the match. "I've had some difficult days, but I'm grateful to the entire delegation and my teammates because they were always there for me, giving me a lot of strength to help me get through this."
The goals came 20 years after Messi made his World Cup debut for Argentina against Serbia and Montenegro — he scored in that match as well — becoming only the second player to score in five editions of the tournament.
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