Lionel Messi was seen shedding tears during Argentina’s FIFA World Cup 2026 opener against Algeria at the Kansas City Stadium on Wednesday, June 17 (as per IST). The Argentine legend marked his sixth World Cup appearance with a record-breaking show, scoring a jaw-dropping hat-trick to cap off a memorable win in their title defence.ย
At 38y and 357d, Messi became the oldest player to score a hat-trick in a FIFA World Cup, breaking the record held by Cristiano Ronaldo. He also became the oldest player to score multiple goals in a World Cup match, shattering the previous record held by Roger Milla.ย
Messi opens up on his emotional moment
Apart from his jaw-dropping strikes, what also caught the eye was Messi wiping tears after scoring the first of his three goals. The soon-to-be 39-year-old revealed the reason behind his emotional moment, stating that it had nothing to do with football.ย
“Honestly, completely unrelated to the sport, I went through some difficult, complicated days,” Messi said after the match. He thanked his teammates and the entire Argentina delegation for the support. “Iโm grateful to the entire delegation, to my teammates. They were always there for me, as always. They gave me a lot of strength to get through this, and thatโs all,” he further said.
‘Numbers don’t mean anything’: Messi
During the opener, Messi also equalled the record for most goals scored in FIFA World Cups, joining Germany’s Miroslav Klose on 16 goals each with his hat-trick. However, he stated that are “just one statistic”. “It’s an honour. Mbappe and Ronaldo are there, but those numbers don’t mean anything. They’re just statistics. Ronaldo is one of the greatest, and he’s not in first place, so it’s just one statistic,” he said as quoted by Argentine newspaper La Nacion.
List of records broken by Messi during Algeria opener:
Joint-most goals in FIFA World Cup history: 16, tied with Miroslav Klose
Oldest Player to score a World Cup hat-trick: Messi is 38y and 357d old. Cristiano Ronaldo held the record when he was 33y-130d during his hat-trick in 2018.
Second man to score at 5 World Cups: Messi is second after Ronaldo (Portugal) to score at five FIFA World Cups. Ronaldo is set to own this record again.
Most goal contributions: Messi now has 24 goal contributions, the most in FIFA World Cup history. He was tied with Pele for 21 contributions.
Five from outside the box: Messi scored his fifth FIFA World Cup goal from outside the box. He ties Brazil’s Rivellino for the most such goals in the last six decades.
First Argentine to score in five straight games: Messi also became the first Argentine to score in five straight WC matches. He is one short of the all-time record of Just Fontaine (FRA) and Jairzinho (BRA).
Sixth World Cup edition: Messi played in his sixth FIFA World Cup, owning the record for most appearances. 16th June was the 20th anniversary of his WC debut and his first goal 20 years ago.