Lionel Messi makes history: 200th appearance and a masterclass at the 2026 World Cup

Messi conquers the World Cup: historic achievements at the start of the tournament

The Argentine star Lionel Messi recorded an unforgettable appearance today at the 2026 World Cup. According to reports from ورزش سه and فوتبال ۳۶۰, Messi reached the milestone of 200 appearances for the national team, becoming the second player in history to reach this achievement, after Cristiano Ronaldo. In addition, it was noted in فوتبال ۳۶۰ that Messi is the first player in history to participate in six different World Cup tournaments.

During the match against Algeria, which ended with a score of 3-0 for Argentina, SNN.ir|خبرگزاری دانشجو reported that Messi scored a hat-trick that made him the leader of the all-time World Cup top scorers list, alongside Miroslav Klose. The agency SNN.ir|خبرگزاری دانشجو even crowned Messi as the "Man of the Match" with a perfect score of 10 out of 10. ورزش سه noted that the game included tense moments, including a controversial scene in the first half where Messi was almost sent off.

The performance of the Argentine captain received broad international praise. FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, published a post on social media, as reported by آخرین خبر, in which he congratulated Messi on his achievements and the Algerian national team on a "fantastic game" in its return to the world stage after 12 years.

Alongside the sports reports, amusing mentions were also recorded online; the channel اسپورت|⚽️ 𝙛𝙤𝙤𝙩𝙗𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩 mentioned an old conspiracy theory from the animated series "The Simpsons" from 2019, which allegedly predicted an incident during a match against Algeria, a prediction that proved irrelevant to the reality on the pitch.