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It was a nervy opening 15 minutes for Argentina. Ironically, it wasn’t the first time Messi finished past Algeria goalkeeper Luca Zidane, but Argentina’s largely well-executed counterattack was wiped away in the fifth minute after a poorly timed pass from Lautaro Martinez left him offside. Moments later, Algeria nearly made Argentina pay.

The Fennecs broke the other way, with Farès Chaïbi running onto a pass from Ibrahim Maza before finishing past a stunned Emiliano Martinez. But Algeria’s celebrations were short-lived, too, as VAR determined Chaïbi had also strayed offside in the eighth minute. After two early warnings, both teams kept probing, searching for the space that would finally count.

Then Messi decided to take over.

Rodrigo De Paul, Messi’s Inter Miami teammate, sliced a through ball between two Algerian defenders to find the forward in stride. As two more defenders closed in, Messi opened up and launched his shot into the top-right corner. One-nil. And in the process, the veteran magician added several more milestones to his ridiculous resume.

It was Messi’s fifth World Cup with a goal, coming on the 20th anniversary of his first-ever goal in the tournament. He and De Paul also became just the fifth set of MLS players to assist each other on a World Cup goal, according to Opta, with the others all being USMNT players. It was also the 911th goal of Messi’s career for club and country – and one that will stand out among the pack.

His onslaught would continue in the second half. Alexis Mac Allister launched a long-range shot that was blocked by Zidane, but Messi would be right there to pounce on the rebound. Messi would round off his first-ever World Cup hat trick thanks to a timely pass by Nicolas Gonzalez in the box, with the Argentine finishing cleanly with his left foot.

Despite Algeria largely matching Argentina on possession, their attack couldn’t get going. They had seven shots, but none on target.

GOAL rates Argentina’s players from Kansas City Stadium…