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At the height of their greatest moments, at the top of their game, the South Americans gave birth to a saying in Spanish when talking about Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. But for the sake of brevity, I’ll translate it.
Ronaldo may be the best player in the world, but Messi? He comes from another planet.
So on Tuesday night, under the skies of Kansas City – a city known as the capital of American soccer – Lionel Messi, in a record sixth World Cup, reminded America and the world of his otherworldly qualities, scoring his first career World Cup hat trick in Argentina’s 3-0 victory over Algeria.
The three goals put him at the top of the list for most men’s World Cup goals (16), alongside Germany’s Miroslav Klose. A record that he will surely beat when the Albiceleste will face Austria next Monday in Dallas.
Additionally, Messi – at 38 years and 357 days – became the oldest male player to score a hat trick at a World Cup, surpassing Ronaldo by five years. He now also holds the records for Argentina’s youngest and oldest goalscorer (18 in 2006 and 38 today) and has scored in five consecutive World Cup matches. If he scores again, he will have a new record.
Do you want another one? For Argentina, he is the first national team player to score in five consecutive World Cups, surpassing Hernán Crespo and Guillermo Stábile. It was his 11th hat-trick in total for his national team.
The hat trick itself was quintessential Messi.
The opener came in the 17th minute, and it was a left-footed golden rocket that was too much for Luca Zidane – Zinedine’s second son, who was there and could only marvel at what Leo had just done to his second-born.
The second, in the 60th minute, was just an example of his quick instincts after the aforementioned Zidane spilled Alexis Mac Allister’s attempt and Messi was the first to react.
I want to remind everyone that he will be 39 in eight days and his instincts remain intact.
Then, the icing on the cake, in the 76th minute, Messi recovered the ball from outside the box, and it was almost as if Algeria had accepted their fate.
Go ahead, Leo. No matter what we do, you will still score.
And he did, as the Argentina captain looked up and, without hesitation, placed it in the bottom right of Zidane’s goal.
The stadium erupted and three minutes later the world stood to marvel and honor the greatness as Messi was replaced by Nico Paz. Some things, Lionel Scaloni thought, had better end sooner in order to fully appreciate them.
Bigger obstacles will surely arise in the tournament for Argentina and Messi, who knows that the most important part of this World Cup is taking care of his physical condition.
And as time waits for no one, we can only reflect on the fact that this is indeed his last tournament. But tonight, in Argentina’s first victory, as they look to defend their glorious title, we thanked the footballing gods once again that Lionel Messi has not left us.
He’s really here.
Luis Miguel Echegaray is the author of “Messi Mania”, his first book on the world champion, his incredible career and the impact of his arrival at Inter Miami in 2023 on the American sporting landscape.
