After the hat-trick, Messi admitted he went through a tough time | OneFootball

Lionel Messi delivered a stellar performance in Argentina’s debut at the 2026 World Cup, scoring three goals in the match against Algeria. And after his brilliant performance, he revealed that he had gone through some difficult days for reasons unrelated to football and was full of praise for his teammates for helping him get through it.

“Honestly, completely unrelated to football, I went through a few tough, complicated days. I’m grateful to the entire delegation, to my teammates. They were always there, as always, by my side. They gave me a lot of strength so I could be okay, and that’s it,” La Pulga said as he received the man of the match award.

As for how the game unfolded, he analyzed: “We knew it was going to be a difficult match. They have very good players, very dynamic, intense. If we gave up the ball, they could create chances, but we were well organized when we didn’t have possession. We were fortunate to take the lead and manage the match, maybe not the way we always do through possession.”

“The first half was a bit difficult for us, the second half changed, that’s normal. The first matches of an official competition, especially at a World Cup, are difficult. We had the experience of the last one, and you can see at this World Cup that nobody gives you anything, it’s a very competitive World Cup where every national team is strong, has its own game plan, is very well coached, and every match is going to be very even, very intense. Physically, there are a lot of strong teams and they play well, they study us. Everything is very evenly matched,” he explained.

Regarding his great performance, Messi played down the record for all-time top scorer in the World Cup and made it clear what motivates him to keep giving his all on the pitch as he approaches his 39th birthday: “I like playing football. It’s been my passion since I was a kid. When I feel good, I give my all. We’re watching Rafa Nadal’s series right now, and I identify with him a lot, we’re very similar in that sense that I want to give my maximum and I want to feel good. That’s how I enjoy it. As long as I can and I’m in good shape to do it, I’ll be there.”

“Honestly, not really (about whether he cares about the record), it’s an honor to be there because of what it means to be alongside Klose, Ronaldo is there too, but I don’t think it means anything, Mbappé is there too, he scored two today. It’s just a statistic, nothing more. Even though it’s a source of pride to be able to compete with all of them, it doesn’t mean anything to me. Ronaldo, from what I saw, was one of the greatest and he’s not first, so in the end it all comes down to a statistic.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.