KANSAS CITY: Argentina captain Lionel Messi added another remarkable chapter to his legendary career on Tuesday, equalling the all-time men’s FIFA World Cup scoring record with a sensational hat-trick in his side’s tournament opener against Algeria.
The 38-year-old forward struck three times to move level with German great Miroslav Klose on 16 World Cup goals, placing himself at the summit of the competition’s all-time scoring charts.
Messi, who is featuring in a record sixth FIFA World Cup, opened the scoring in the 17th minute with a long-range effort that gave Argentina control of the contest.
He doubled his tally shortly after the hour mark with a close-range finish before completing his hat-trick in the 76th minute, sparking wild celebrations among Argentina supporters in Kansas City.
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The three-goal performance saw Messi overtake Brazil legend Ronaldo Nazario, who scored 15 World Cup goals, and move alongside Klose, whose record had stood alone since the 2014 tournament.
The latest milestone came just hours after France striker Kylian Mbappe had climbed the rankings with a brace of his own.
Mbappe moved past Messi’s pre-match tally of 13 goals to reach 14, drawing level with German icon Gerd Müller. However, Messi’s hat-trick dramatically reshuffled the standings and restored him to the top of the all-time list.
Most goals in FIFA World Cup history
- Lionel Messi (Argentina) – 16
- Miroslav Klose (Germany) – 16
- Ronaldo (Brazil) – 15
- Kylian Mbappe (France) – 14
- Gerd Müller (West Germany) – 14
- Just Fontaine (France) – 13
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In addition to matching Klose’s record, Messi also became the oldest player ever to score both a brace and a hat-trick in a FIFA World Cup match.
The previous record for the oldest World Cup hat-trick scorer belonged to Cristiano Ronaldo, who netted three times for Portugal against Spain at the 2018 World Cup at the age of 33 years and 130 days.
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