A crushing opening at the World Cup: Leo Messi stars with a massive hat-trick against Algeria

2026 World Cup: Messi and La Albiceleste open with a storm

World champion Argentina checked off its "first win" at the World Cup this morning with a clean 3-0 victory over the Algerian national team. The match, held in Kansas, was marked by a virtuoso performance by Leo Messi, who scored a hat-trick and led his team to a convincing victory.

According to Kaduregeland, the celebration began in the 17th minute with a "massive strike from outside the box into the top corner." Later, Messi completed his hat-trick with a goal from close range and a characteristic finish to the corner. The channel notes that this is a statement of intent from the star, who also received compliments from Sport 5, who called his performance "simply unbelievable."

On the other hand, Hole Al Kaduregel - Yossi Adani reports that Messi escaped a red card in the 31st minute following an insufficient intervention by the VAR system regarding a harsh tackle. Despite this, it seems that the Argentine dominance was never in doubt; according to Kaduregeland, Algeria failed to produce a single shot on target throughout the entire 90 minutes.

In another match held as part of the round, Sport Hayom reported an impressive victory for the Norwegian national team, which defeated Iraq 1-4 thanks to a brace by Erling Haaland. ynet News followed the events throughout the night and provided real-time updates on the development of the results.