Lionel Messi and Argentina are back to defend their crown and showed it in style, as Messi tied the World Cup's all-time goals record with a hat trick in a 3-0 win over Algeria in both nations' 2026 World Cup openers in the Heartland of America on Tuesday.

What a crazy World Cup night that was?! As if it were nothing, Lionel Messi, at 38 years old, simply scored a hat-trick against Algeria, drawing level with Miroslav Klose. The Argentine now also stands at 16 tournament goals.

The Spanish midfielder highlighted the influence of Argentina’s No. 10 and his level of play despite the passage of time.

Sunil Chhetri, part of the ZEE5 FIFA World Cup 2026 expert panel, praised top performers at the tournament, highlighting standout displays by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. He noted memorable moments like Messi’s hat-trick,

A star-studded line-up at the World Cup overnight produced the goods as Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland kept pace with Lionel Messi. Messi had earlier in the day scored twice as Argentina beat Austria 2-0;

France leads Sweden after a record-setting Mbappe goal in their World Cup round of 32 match. Follow for live updates, score, stats and highlights.

Follow live updates and coverage of the 2026 World Cup matches of Ivory Coast vs. Norway, France vs. Sweden and Mexico vs. Ecuador with the latest scores, highlights, team news and analysis throughout the day.