Argentina vs Algeria 3-0: World Cup 2026 – as it happened

The 2026 World Cup is not only the biggest World Cup in history – it’s also the most expensive.

With dynamic pricing and rising travel costs, the game may be global, but access isn’t to your average football fan.

So who gets to be in the stands? Al Jazeera’s Samantha Johnson explains.

Argentina begin their title defence with a comprehensive 3-0 win against Algeria.

It comes on the back of a magical hat-trick by Messi, who only registered his first ever in his sixth World Cup.

We hope you enjoyed our coverage of today’s match. This is me, Rohan Sharma, and Kevin Hand signing off.

20 years of Messi ✨#FIFAWorldCup

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) June 17, 2026

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni says he no longer has “the words to describe Messi”.

“For 20 years, he’s had us used to seeing things like this, and he inspires everyone who watches him play,” Scaloni said of Messi’s performance.

Scaloni is now targeting Argentina’s second Group J game against Austria on Monday as the South Americans look to lock up their place in the knockout rounds.

“We’re going to take it one game at a time. The team is happy; we gave playing time to a lot of players,” Scaloni said.

“Hopefully, we can win the next one, so everyone can be in the third group stage match.”

Lionel Messi saluted a “beautiful moment” after becoming the World Cup’s joint all-time leading goalscorer.

“To enjoy this with my family, with my teammates, the ones who are always there, is a really beautiful moment,” the Inter Miami star said afterwards. “I’m happy.”

Messi’s razor-sharp eye for the goal augurs well for Argentina’s hopes of becoming the first team since Brazil in 1962 to win back-to-back World Cup titles.

“The squad, it’s a very united, very strong group,” Messi said.

“I feel good; we were lucky enough to win a tough match. It’s important to start off with a win in the first game.

“I’m grateful to the fans, because once again, they’ve shown that Argentina is crazy about this. We packed the stadium again.”

The goals came 20 years to the day that Messi made his World Cup debut for Argentina in a match against Serbia and Montenegro (which he scored in as well). It made him only the second player to score in five editions of the tournament.

Messi has 16 goals in his six World Cup tournament appearances, and it seems inevitable that Miroslav Klose’s record will fall in the coming weeks.

The hat-trick was the 61st of his career and his 11th while playing for the national team. It was the fifth straight World Cup game in which Messi has scored.

The hat-trick also upstaged two of football’s other big stars – Kylian Mbappé of France and Erling Haaland of Norway – who had big games on Tuesday.

Mbappé scored twice in France’s 3-1 win over Senegal earlier in the day and is tied for fourth on the World Cup scoring list with 14.

Haaland scored twice and recorded an assist for Norway in its 4-1 win over Iraq.

Messi x3 🎩#FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/KWNuCSaCIs

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) June 17, 2026

Messi’s decades-long legacy at the tournament began when, at 18 years of age, he made his World Cup debut in 2006, the same year that Zidane’s father, French legend Zinedine Zidane, enjoyed his best run.

Whether it is a poetic sign from the universe or a tournament scheduling coincidence, Tuesday marked exactly 20 years to the day since Messi earned his first World Cup cap for Argentina against Serbia and Montenegro.

Read more: Lionel Messi rewrites history books at record sixth World Cup

Messi, who turns 39 next week, had been dealing with a minor hamstring injury with Inter Miami that slowed him in the lead-up to the World Cup.

But the eight-time winner of the Ballon d’Or had no problems in a tune-up last week with Iceland, scoring on a penalty kick while playing for 20 minutes.

Messi’s appearance against Algeria was the 200th of his international career, which began in 2005 at the age of 18.

The only players with more are Portugal’s Ronaldo, who will play in his 229th on Wednesday, and Bader al-Mutawa, who played in 202 matches for Kuwait.

3 goals, 3 points, 1 Messi. #FIFAWorldCup

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) June 17, 2026

Messi, who turns 39 next week, capped ⁠a historic night in ⁠which he became the first man to play in six World Cups and the second man to score ‌in five editions of the tournament.

Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal, the first player to score in five ‌World ‌Cups, will debut in his sixth on Wednesday against the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Our World Cup coverage continues tomorrow as the final two heavyweights of the tournament make their debut.

Portugal begin their campaign against Dr Congo in Houston, with our live text coverage to start at 14:00 GMT.

Following that, we have England taking on Croatia in Arlington, with the live page kicking off at 17:00 GMT.

Lionel Messi has scored five goals from outside the box in his FIFA World Cup career, equalling the most of any player since 1966 (Rivellino).

Range. pic.twitter.com/jvAXRlpAOi

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) June 17, 2026

“To enjoy this with my family, with my teammates, the ones who are always there, is a really beautiful moment,” Inter Miami star Lionel Messi said afterward the match. “I’m happy.”

Messi’s razor-sharp eye for goal augurs well for Argentina’s hopes of becoming the first team since Brazil in 1962 to win back-to-back World Cup titles.

“The squad – it’s a very united, very strong group,” Messi said.

“I feel good. We were lucky enough to win a tough match. It’s important to start off with a win in the first game.

“I’m grateful to the fans, because once again they’ve shown that Argentina is crazy about this – we packed the stadium again.”

5 – Lionel Messi has scored five goals from outside the box in his FIFA World Cup career, equalling the most of any player since 1966 (Rivellino).

Range. pic.twitter.com/jvAXRlpAOi

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) June 17, 2026

Lionel Messi 3-0 Algeria

Wow. Just wow. pic.twitter.com/muhDmqEPA0

— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) June 17, 2026

16 World Cup goals for Lionel Messi.

He’s now level with Miroslav Klose as the top scoring player in FIFA World Cup history. pic.twitter.com/ZezT0LuX82

— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) June 17, 2026

Another record broken for Lionel Messi (and stolen from Cristiano Ronaldo, too). pic.twitter.com/BL5zeuIz77

— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) June 17, 2026

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will soon get their record sixth World Cup campaigns under way.

We’ve combined their respective shot maps across their previous five tournaments into one graphic. Messi (105) has only attempted two more shots than Ronaldo (103). pic.twitter.com/tE2q2vfU8k

— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) June 16, 2026

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗡 𝗢𝗙 𝗔 𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗦𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗦 🐐 pic.twitter.com/l0VQcPVpO3

— Selección Argentina in English (@AFASeleccionEN) June 17, 2026

Click here to read our full match report by Kevin Hand.

Argentina begin their World Cup title defence with a comprehensive 3-0 victory over the Desert Foxes.

What will give them the most joy, though, is the fact that it all fell on the back of a brilliant, and first-ever World Cup, Messi hat-trick.

On a day when marquee names such as Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland stood up, the 38-year-old Inter Miami forward showed why you can’t count him out either.

Full-time: Argentina 3-0 Algeria 

This team 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐬 fighting 👊

🇦🇷 Argentina 3 🆚 0 Algeria 🇩🇿

⚽⚽⚽ L. Messi pic.twitter.com/h5Gxok1oV5

— Selección Argentina in English (@AFASeleccionEN) June 17, 2026