From The Sports Desk: Messi’s hat trick caps day of stars

World CupFrom The Sports Desk: Messi’s hat trick caps day of starsOn Wednesday, England and Croatia renew their rivalry.Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00Add NBC News to GoogleHow Kansas City is preparing for the World Cup spotlight03:55Get more newsLiveonShareAdd NBC News to GoogleJune 17, 2026, 11:24 AM EDTBy Mark HodgeLionel Messi tied the World Cup’s career scoring record with a stunning hat trick in Argentina’s opening game against Algeria last night.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Messi, who will celebrate his 39th birthday next week, put to rest any questions about whether he could help his country win back-to-back titles after recently recovering from a hamstring injury.Lionel Messi celebrates scoring Argentina's first goal during its World Cup match against Algeria in Kansas City, Mo., on Tuesday.Maja Hitij / FIFA via Getty ImagesScoring all the goals in a 3-0 win, Messi tied Germany’s Miroslav Klose for the tournament’s career scoring record, which stands at 16 goals.The Inter Miami goal machine netted his first in the opening minutes. His second was a rebound shortly after halftime. The third came moments before he was subbed to a standing ovation.Messi made his World Cup debut 20 years ago when he scored against Serbia and Montenegro in 2006. He is now the first player to appear at six World Cups, and last night’s hat trick was the 61st of his career, albeit his first at a World Cup.Argentina tops Group J, ahead of Austria (on goal difference), which beat Jordan 3-1 earlier yesterday.Messi upstaged two of soccer’s megastars — Kylian Mbappé of France and Erling Haaland of Norway — who had big games of their own yesterday.Mbappé scored twice in France’s 3-1 win over Senegal to move into a tie for fourth on the World Cup goals list with 14. The star-studded French, along with European champion Spain, top many bookmakers’ lists of favorites for the tournament.Playing i...