Argentina bowed to Messi after his historic night: ‘No words’ | OneFootball

The Argentina national team opened the 2026 World Cup with a 3-0 thrashing of Algeria, although the star of the night in Kansas was Lionel Messi, who scored a hat-trick for the first time in his World Cup career. With that, he reached 16 goals and now shares the record for most goals scored in history with Germany’s Miroslav Klose. After the match, Alexis Mac Allister, Lionel Scaloni, and Rodrigo De Paul showed their total admiration for Argentina’s No. 10. “There are no words to describe him,” they agreed.

The first to speak was Mac Allister, who stressed the importance of having the Argentine superstar in the team: “If anyone thought the team was better without Leo, today it became clear that he is the most important of all. We have to build a team around him, where he feels comfortable”. He also added: “That’s what we’re doing today, and he’s doing well, he’s happy and scoring goals.”

Alexis Mac Allister’s remarks

“Speechless. What can I say? Anything I say would be unnecessary,” Scaloni began in an interview with Tyc Sports. However, beyond showing that he is somewhat used to these kinds of performances from Messi—though still never ceasing to be amazed—he also highlighted another aspect beyond the sporting side: “It’s not that I imagined it, he’s been doing this for twenty years. People in football want to watch him now, not just Argentines. Beyond the result, you have to enjoy him because what he conveys to the whole world is incredible.”

De Paul, meanwhile, was no less effusive and continued the stream of praise for Argentina’s No. 10, after a performance that will remain etched in football fans’ memories: “There are no words for Leo, they’ve probably already said it all on the broadcast. Enjoy him as much as possible, don’t miss a single minute that goes by with him in this shirt. Time passes for everyone, but we’re very happy for him and for the team.”

De Paul’s remarks

So, aside from matching German striker Klose’s tally, Messi also became the oldest player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup, doing so at 38 years, 11 months, and 23 days old. In this way, he surpassed Cristiano Ronaldo, who had done it at age 33 in Russia 2018. In addition, alongside the Portuguese star, they are the only two players to have scored in five different World Cups.

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