Those in attendance at Argentina\u2019s opening match against Algeria could be forgiven, for a moment, for thinking they were at one of the great Argentinian cathedrals of football \u2013 La Bombonera, or maybe the national stadium, El Monumental. Kansas City Stadium, awash in the colors of the Albiceleste, roared with the sound of nearly 70,000 Argentine supporters serenading their team, and their hero, in rapturous song on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n
They had plenty to sing about.<\/p>\n
Argentina rose to the occasion, and so did Lionel Messi<\/a>, who in his 200th cap took another step towards solidifying his place as the greatest footballer in the history of the sport, scoring three splendid goals and tying Germany\u2019s Miroslav Klose for the all-time goal scoring mark in World Cup play (16), the performance coming just hours after France\u2019s Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 leapfrogged him, with 14.<\/p>\n The Inter Miami midfielder also became the first male player to appear at six World Cups, a record that feels certain to be equalled by Cristiano Ronaldo when Portugal begin play. Messi had been recovering from a muscle injury in recent weeks but any doubt surrounding the Argentinian captain\u2019s status was quickly wiped away when he was named to Lionel Scaloni\u2019s starting XI, and those doubts were ancient history once the match began.<\/p>\n Messi had very nearly nabbed Argentina\u2019s opener just five minutes in when a through-ball found him at the near side of the box. His shot was perfectly placed, but assistant referee Tomasz Listkiewicz correctly flagged him offside by the smallest margin. Not two minutes later, Algeria winger Far\u00e8s Cha\u00efbi had an equally clinical finish waved off after finding himself offside by a similarly narrow margin.<\/p>\n Messi wasted little time putting Argentina ahead, finding the back of the net in the 17th minute. His Inter Miami teammate Rodrigo De Paul found Messi 40 yards out, after which the former Barcelona star turned and took three touches towards goal. With no defenders in sight, his driven shot from the edge of the area was too powerful for Algeria keeper Luca Zidane, glancing off his fingertips and into goal.<\/p>\n The one negative mark on an otherwise brilliant performance came in the first half, with Messi fortunate to escape without punishment after a rash challenge in which he raked his cleats across the back of Algerian defender A\u00efssa Mandi\u2019s calf. The Argentinian likely deserved a yellow, and potentially even a red. He received neither, and the play was not reviewed on the field.<\/p>\n Messi\u2019s second goal of the night was even more easily taken than his first. Liverpool midfielder Alexis Mac Allister\u2019s speculative effort from 30 yards was pushed away by Zidane directly into the path of Messi, who coolly slotted it home from close range in the 60th minute. Again, Algeria\u2019s backline was nowhere to be found. Argentina, on the other hand, were excellent defensively throughout the entire match.<\/p>\n Lionel Messi scores his second goal. Photograph: Claudia Greco\/Reuters<\/p>\n The Argentinian legend completed his hat-trick in the 76th minute with a vintage finish, threading his strike through a trio of defenders and just out of reach of Zidane. He left the match minutes later.<\/p>\n Both fanbases have been well-represented for days in Kansas City and nearby Lawrence, Kansas, where Algeria will be based for the entirety of their tournament. Thousands of Argentinian supporters packed a local park on Monday night for a banderazo, singing, chanting and dancing into the wee hours. The party moved Tuesday evening to the stadium, which was full of noise hours ahead of kickoff.<\/p>\n