‘Ronaldo is also there’ – Messi reacts after netting historic World Cup hat-trick | OneFootball

Lionel Messi paid homage to other great forwards after matching the all-time World Cup scoring record with a hat-trick in Argentina’s opener.

The last World Cup in Qatar was undoubtedly the crowning moment in the career of one of, if not the, greatest footballers ever. Despite that, the 38-year-old is showing no signs of slowing down at this summer’s tournament.

Messi kicked off his World Cup in signature fashion and had the ball in the back of the net in less than ten minutes. That one was, however, chalked off for an offside by the finest of margins. Nevertheless he struck three more times, helping his nation to a 3-0 victory.

It was the Argentine’s first ever hat-trick at the tournament, and draws him level with Miroslav Klose’s all-time tally of 16 World Cup goals.

“The truth is that it is an honor to be there, for what it means,” reflected Messi after the game. “To be next to Klose, Ronaldo is also there, but I think it doesn’t mean anything.

“Mbappe also scored two today, in the end it is statistics and nothing else.

“Although it is a 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 is not first. That is, he is alone in statistics.”

The Argentina star was also noticeably moved after his first strike. Asked about this, Messi admitted: “No, the truth is that it’s a matter totally different to sports.

“I had a difficult and complicated day, but I’m grateful to the whole delegation, to all my teammates, because they’ve always been there for me, giving me a lot of strength to do well.”

He continued: “As I say, everything I’m experiencing now is great. I was lucky to achieve all my dreams, and more than I could have achieved individually, as a group.

“Today I’m enjoying this, of a beautiful group, of feeling good, luckily, to be able to enjoy it on the pitch as I’ve always liked it.

“Everything I’ve experienced is much more than I could have imagined when I was a kid.”