Football superstar Lionel Messi has clarified the emotional scenes witnessed during Argentina's opening World Cup 2026 fixture against Algeria, where he scored a hat-trick in a comfortable 3-0 victory. Despite his stellar performance, Messi was visibly tearful after netting his first goal, prompting speculation among fans and pundits.
The 38-year-old forward opened his account in the 17th minute with a superb curling strike from the edge of the penalty area. After being mobbed by his teammates in celebration, Messi was observed wiping away tears from his face with his shirt before play resumed. However, he later explained that his emotional display was entirely unrelated to the match itself or his on-field achievements.
“Honestly, completely unrelated to the sport, I went through some difficult, complicated days,” Messi stated, expressing gratitude for the support he received. “I’m grateful to the entire delegation, to my teammates. They were always there for me, as always. They gave me a lot of strength to get through this, and that’s all.”
Messi's hat-trick in the match brought his total World Cup goal tally to 16, equalling the record held by Germany's Miroslav Klose for the most goals scored in the tournament's history. This achievement places him one goal ahead of Brazilian legend Ronaldo, with German great Gerd Muller and France's Kylian Mbappe, who also scored twice recently, tied fourth on 14 goals. Despite the historical significance, Messi downplayed the importance of the record, calling it merely a 'statistic'.
“Honestly, no,” Messi added when asked about the record. “It’s an honour to be there because of what it means to be there next to Klose, Ronaldo is there too, but I don’t think it means anything. Mbappe is there, he scored two today. It’s a statistic and nothing more. While it’s an honour to be able to compete with all of them, it doesn’t mean anything to me.”
Argentina's next World Cup fixture is scheduled for Monday against Austria, providing Messi with an immediate opportunity to surpass Klose and become the outright all-time leading World Cup goal scorer. They will then conclude their group stage campaign with a match against Jordan the following Saturday.