Messi made history, Scaloni in tears on the bench | OneFootball

Lionel Messi’s special night, crowned with a hat trick against Algeria in the 3-0 win on the opening matchday of Group J at the 2026 World Cup, moved coach Lionel Scaloni to tears.

Although it was not shown on the official broadcast, the Santa Fe native was caught on camera visibly emotional at the moment when La Pulga left the field and Nicolás Paz came on in his place, 35 minutes into the second half.

Scaloni welcomed him on the bench with tears in his eyes and pulled him into a tight hug. Messi had just scored a hat trick, which made him the top scorer in World Cup history, with 16 goals, the same number as Germany’s Miroslav Klose.

Scaloni was moved to tears when Messi was substituted.

Once the match was over, the World Cup-winning coach was full of praise for the Rosario star: “I have no words. I greeted him, gave him a kiss, and told him I love him very much, because I no longer know what to say to him. Beyond the goals he scores, he is incredible because of what he conveys. We will miss him the day he is no longer here. Let’s enjoy him, because that is the most important thing.”

The manager, who has publicly cried more than once, as shown in the Flow documentary The Scaloni Method, was not the only one who shed a few tears on Tuesday night.

Messi himself became emotional during the match, after his first goal against Algeria, and in the post-match press conference he explained his reaction: “It was something completely unrelated to football; I went through a few difficult days, but I’m grateful to the whole delegation and my teammates because they are always by my side, giving me strength

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