By Juan Samuel Santana Chávez

Argentina began their 2026 World Cup title defense with authority, defeating Algeria 3-0 in their Group J opener. At the Kansas City stadium, the undisputed star was Lionel Messi, who delivered a memorable performance by scoring all three goals of the match and guiding La Albiceleste to their first three points of the tournament.

The Argentine captain opened the scoring with a powerful long-range shot and later extended the lead by exploiting the spaces created by the African team. The third goal completed his first World Cup hat-trick and confirmed that, at 38 years old, he continues to be decisive on the biggest stage in international football. Furthermore, this performance allowed him to equal the historic World Cup goal tally of Germany's Miroslav Klose.

With this result, Argentina takes provisional leadership of Group J and sends a clear message to their rivals in pursuit of a second consecutive world championship. Messi's performance sparked a wave of reactions on social media, where fans and experts highlighted the enduring brilliance of the Argentine star and described his exhibition as one of the most outstanding of his World Cup career. La Albiceleste's next commitment will be against Austria, while Algeria will look to bounce back against Jordan.

In addition, Lionel Messi will go down in history books as one of the World Cup's top scorers, tying Miroslav Klose with 16 goals, and also becoming the youngest and oldest Argentine player to score in this competition.