Football World Cup
Thanks to the opening gala: Messi draws level with Klose
Updated June 17, 2026 – 7:20 a.mReading time: 2 minutes
Three goals in one game: Lionel Messi caused a sensation right from the start – and achieved something historic.
The Argentine national team won its opening game at the World Cup in Kansas City (USA) 3-0 (1-0) against Algeria. The outstanding man on the pitch was once again Lionel Messi. With three goals (17th minute, 60th, 76th) he single-handedly decided the game and gave Argentina a good start in Group J.
In the video | With this goal, Messi equals Klose’s record
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With the hat-trick, Messi has moved level with former German striker Miroslav Klose in the all-time World Cup goalscoring list. Even before the World Cup, the current coach of 1. FC Nürnberg believed that his record would fall. The fact that this happened on the first day of the match should also surprise Klose.
That’s how the game went
Even at the age of 38, Messi was the linchpin of the South Americans’ game. In the fifth minute he made the Argentine fans cheer for the first time. However, the superstar was just offside when he scored.
But twelve minutes later the time had come. With his 14th goal at a World Cup, Messi gave the defending champions the lead in front of Kansas’ football star Patrick Mahomes. Algeria goalkeeper Luca Zidane didn’t look entirely happy with Messi’s goal. The son of former superstar Zinédine Zidane still got his hands on the ball, but could not prevent the Argentines from taking the lead. Deafening cheers rang out as the ball fidgeted in the net and Messi let his teammates celebrate.
Messi made his World Cup debut exactly 20 years to the day before the first game at his sixth World Cup: in 2006, the 6-0 win in Gelsenkirchen against Serbia-Montenegro was Messi’s first appearance on the big stage. At the age of 18, he scored a goal straight away. Messi was the first player to appear in six World Cups.