Messi’s Algeria Hat-Trick Strips Super Eagles of Unwanted Record

For Nigeria, absent from a World Cup they should have been part of, the news from Kansas City on Tuesday night carried a sting that went beyond the spectacular. Lionel Messi scored all three goals as defending champions Argentina defeated Algeria 3-0 in their Group J opener at the Kansas City Stadium, and in doing so pushed Algeria past the Super Eagles on the list of African nations the Argentina captain has scored against most in his international career. It is, in the grand scheme of things, an unwanted statistical footnote but it is the kind of record that Nigeria would rather have kept.

Before Tuesday’s match, Messi had scored three goals in four appearances against the Super Eagles, all in World Cup competition. He had never scored in the 2010 group-stage encounter in South Africa, but struck twice in Argentina’s 3-2 win against Nigeria at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and added another decisive goal in their 2-1 victory in Russia in 2018. Three goals across four meetings made Nigeria the African team he had scored against most in his career. The hat trick against Algeria five goals now in just two matches against the Desert Warriors, dating back to a friendly in 2007 ends that unwanted distinction. Nigerian football fans following the 2026 World Cup and wanting to back any of the remaining African sides still in the tournament can check the Bet9ja promo code for enhanced group-stage odds ahead of Matchday Two.

How the Match Unfolded

The Kansas City Stadium crowd of 69,045 witnessed a VAR heavy opening before Messi’s quality eventually settled the contest. Argentina thought they had taken an early lead when Messi beat goalkeeper Luca Zidane in the fifth minute, only for a VAR review to rule the effort out for offside. Algeria almost capitalised immediately, with Farès Chaïbi appearing to equalise in the eighth minute before VAR intervened for a second time to disallow that effort for offside too. Both sides had been denied inside the first ten minutes.

The breakthrough finally came in the 17th minute. Rodrigo De Paul found Messi with space on the edge of the penalty area, and the 38 year old playing in what may be his final World Cup curled a powerful left footed strike from around 25 yards into the top-right corner. It was the kind of goal that only Messi scores, and the kind of moment the Kansas City crowd had been waiting for from the moment the teams emerged from the tunnel. Messi doubled Argentina’s advantage on the hour mark when Alexis Mac Allister’s fierce drive from distance was spilled by Luca Zidane, and the Argentine captain reacted quickest to convert the rebound from close range. Fans following Argentina’s title defence and wanting to stake on their progress through the knockout rounds can use the Bet9ja YOHAIG welcome offer for new accounts ahead of the Round of 32.

The hat trick was completed in the 76th minute. After exchanging passes with Mac Allister near the edge of the penalty area, Messi glided into space and guided a trademark left-footed finish into the corner. The 38 year old was substituted for Nico Paz four minutes later and left the field to a standing ovation from a crowd who had just watched history being made. Algeria, who enjoyed 53 per cent of possession, failed to register a single shot on target across the entire 90 minutes.

The Records That Fell

The goals brought with them a cascade of milestones that underscored just how extraordinary Messi’s World Cup legacy has become. The hat trick moved him to 16 World Cup goals, drawing level with Miroslav Klose as the tournament’s joint all time leading scorer. The German striker’s record, set over four World Cups between 2002 and 2014, has stood as the benchmark for individual achievement at the global tournament for over a decade. Messi has now matched it, and with Argentina through to the knockout stages, there is every chance he moves clear before the tournament concludes.

He also surpassed Pelé’s record for total World Cup goal contributions a figure that encompasses both goals and assists and became the oldest player to score a World Cup hat trick at 38 years of age. The match itself fell on the 20 year anniversary of Messi’s first ever World Cup goal, scored against Serbia and Montenegro at the 2006 tournament in Germany when he was 18 years old. The symmetry was not lost on anyone watching. Argentina finished the match with six shots on target from nine attempts and advance to the top of Group J with three points, setting up a second fixture against Austria in North Texas. Nigerian football supporters who want to follow Argentina’s run and back other World Cup outcomes can register with the Bet9ja platform ahead of the second round of group-stage games.

The Nigerian Perspective

There is a peculiar quality to following the 2026 World Cup as a Nigerian football supporter. The Super Eagles should be here. They had every opportunity to qualify through the expanded 48 team format that brought ten African nations to North America, and they squandered it on penalties in Rabat against DR Congo in November 2025. Instead, they are watching from home as Algeria a side Nigeria eliminated from previous qualifying campaigns now surpasses them in a Messi scoring chart that nobody wanted to lead in the first place.

The statistical loss of the record is trivial in the broader context of Nigerian football’s challenges. What it does is add another small detail to the accumulating picture of what this World Cup absence costs not just the matches, the experience, and the revenue, but the moments. The chance to be part of a night like Tuesday in Kansas City, where one of football’s all-time greats wrote new chapters in the sport’s history book, belongs to someone else. Algeria were there. Nigeria were not. That fact, more than any statistical footnote, is what hurts.