An emotional Lionel Messi was wiping his tears with his shirt after scoring Argentina’s first goal against Algeria in the World Cup, a strike that marked the beginning of a memorable performance where he netted thrice to secure a 3-0 win.
But while his first World Cup hat-trick had many Argentine fans in tears of joy, Messi said he was crying for a personal reason unrelated to the sport.
“Why did I cry? It was something completely unrelated to football. I went through some difficult days,” said Messi, who is playing in a record sixth World Cup, after Tuesday’s match.
“But I’m grateful to the entire delegation and my team-mates because they were always by my side, giving me a lot of strength to help me get through it.”
Messi, who turns 39 next week, has equalled Miroslav Klose’s record of scoring 16 goals at the World Cup.
Argentina will continue their title defence with a Group J game against Austria on Monday.
Empty seats are seen in the second half of the Qatar versus Switzerland
More than one million fans attended the opening 16 games at the World Cup in North America, according to FIFA.
Concerns over the pricing of tickets in the run-up to the finals appeared to be borne out by swathes of empty seats at the match between South Korea and the Czech Republic in Guadalajara last Thursday, and Saturday’s match between Qatar and Switzerland in the Bay Area in California.
However, FIFA says 1,028,429 fans were present at the matches up to and including Monday, with the stadiums 99.34% full, according to its data.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino was pictured on his Instagram with the one millionth fan, Aaron Bren.
“A huge thank you to all our passionate supporters who continue to fill the stadiums – you have brought the most inclusive FIFA World Cup to life,” Infantino wrote.
Meanwhile, a fans’ group has warned of the “risk” posed by the lack of segregation at matches.
Football Supporters Europe executive director Ronan Evain told BBC Sport: “The absence of segregation is not normal for a tournament like this.
“What is worrying is that FIFA doesn’t really know who has tickets here and there… by pushing so much for people to buy tickets and resell them.
“So the possibility – or the risk – to have fans from ‘Team A’ in the middle of the crowd of ‘Team B’ is stronger than ever before.”
FIFA sources have pointed to the fact that country’s most loyal supporters are grouped together in the ring-fenced ‘participant member association’ (PMA) allocation.
The four World Cup matches on Tuesday set a new record for the most attended day in the history of the tournament.
A new mark of 281,223 eclipsed the previous record of 277,070 set at the 1994 World Cup in the United States, which also featured four matches.
The combined figure came from matches between France and Senegal (80,545), Argentina and Algeria (69,045), Austria and Jordan (68,527) and Iraq and Norway (63,106).
FIFA say the current average attendance at the 2026 World Cup is 65,483 and is on track to surpass the tournament’s best cumulative record of 3.5 million in 1994.
Portugal boss Roberto Martinez
Roberto Martinez says reports that he will leave his role as Portugal head coach after the World Cup are “not news”.
A statement on Tuesday said Martinez and Portugal are “aligned” on being fully focused on the tournament in North America, amid reports the Spaniard will leave his post regardless of what happens at the finals.
Reports have linked the 52-year-old former Everton and Wigan boss with a return to the Premier League or another national team role.
Responding to the speculation, a spokesperson for the Portuguese federation (FPF) told the Press Association: “The FPF and Roberto Martinez are focused exclusively on the World Cup. The federation and the coach are aligned on this matter, as they have publicly stated.”
Martinez faced questions over his future at a press conference in Houston later on Tuesday to preview Portugal’s opening match against DR Congo.
“It’s not news,” he said in quotes reported by Portuguese newspaper A Bola.
“We’ve already talked a lot about this in Portugal. Here it may be different, but in Portugal we’ve already talked a lot about it.
“The focus is on continuing the work done for three-and-a-half years.
Manchester United are keen to finally offload Marcus Rashford
England’s Marcus Rashford will be available for £40m this summer – but not to Manchester City or Liverpool.
The Daily Telegraph reports that Manchester United would not countenance selling the forward to their rivals after Barcelona did not take up an option to sign him permanently.
If they can get Rashford off the books, United are looking at West Ham’s Crysencio Summerville as they eye up a winger, according to the Athletic. Summerville is currently at the World Cup with the Netherlands and scored in their opening match against Japan.
Watch every game of the FIFA 2026 World Cup live on RTÉ with highlights on RTÉ Sport digital platforms and live blogs on RTÉ.ie/sport and RTÉ News app