Lionel Messi ties Miroslav Klose’s World Cup goals record with his 1s…

Lionel Messi delivered his first World Cup hat trick while matching Miroslav Klose’s career tournament scoring record, giving thousands of Argentina fans packed inside of Arrowhead Stadium for a match against Algeria a moment they will never forget.

Messi scored his first goal in the opening minutes off a nifty feed from Inter Miami teammate Rodrigo De Paul, the second early in the second half, and the third moments before subbing out to a standing ovation, helping La Albiceleste begin the defence of their World Cup crown with a dominant 3-0 victory over Les Fennecs. raccoongame.org

The trio of goals came 20 years to the day that Messi made his World Cup debut in a match against Serbia and Montenegro – he scored in that one, too – and made the pride of Rosario only the second player to score in five editions of the tournament.

Messi has 16 goals in his six World Cup appearances, and it seems inevitable that Klose’s record will fall in the coming weeks. The hat trick was the 61^st of his career and his 11^th while playing in the blue-and-white kit of the national team.

It also was the fifth straight World Cup game in which Messi has scored.

“At a loss for words about Leo. What can I say? He’s incredible,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said. “Everyone in football wants to see him and enjoys it.” His hat trick also upstaged two of soccer’s other big stars – Kylian Mbappe of France and Erling Haaland of Norway – who had big games of their own on Tuesday. Mbappe 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, while Haaland scored twice for Norway in its 4-1 victory over Iraq.

“Messi is a madman,” Haaland said in a post on Snapchat.

Messi, who turns 39 next week, had been dealing with a minor hamstring injury with Inter Miami that had slowed him in the lead-up to the World Cup. But the eight-time winner of the Ballon d’Or, which honors global soccer’s best player, had no problems in a tuneup last week with Iceland, scoring on a penalty kick while playing 20 minutes in a sharp performance.

Messi’s appearance against Algeria was the 200^th of his international career, which began in 2005 at age of 18. The only players with more are Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, who will play his 229^th on Wednesday, and Bader al-Mutawa, who played in 202 for Kuwait.

Messi and Ronaldo are the only players to have scored in five World Cups.

Argentina is among four national teams making their base camps in the Kansas City metro. And much as it has the rest of the world, Messi-mania has swept through the area ever since La Albiceleste’s arrival in the Heartland about two weeks ago.

On match day, thousands of fans wearing his No. 10 jersey trekked into the home of the NFL’s Chiefs on the outskirts of Kansas City, singing odes to their hero from Rosario. Meanwhile, during a watch party at the downtown Power & Light District, a goat accompanied by former NFL quarterback-turned Fox broadcaster Jameis Winston came on stage wearing an Argentina jersey.

The humorous moment seemed to have foreshadowed a big night for Messi when he scored an hour later, and the argument that he’s soccer’s GOAT – the greatest of all time – is becoming no argument at all with every match he plays.

Sri Lanka fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana has undergone surgery in France to repair a serious injury to his left hamstring sustained during the IPL and forced him out of competitive cricket. Doctors performed the procedure successfully, and Pathirana has now started the rehabilitation phase of his recovery.

The hamstring injury also ruled Pathirana out of Sri Lanka's recent tour of the West Indies. Sri Lanka played a white-ball series comprising three ODIs and three T20Is. The absence of one of Sri Lanka's leading fast bowlers was a major setback for the touring side, who lost the recent T20I series by a margin of 1-2.

Sri Lanka Pacer Matheesha Pathirana Undergoes Successful Operation in France

Amila Kalugalage, manager of Matheesha Pathirana, confirmed that the surgery was completed successfully and said the Sri Lanka fast bowler has now begun his recovery process in France. He also thanked Sri Lanka Cricket and Kolkata Knight Riders for supporting the pacer throughout his treatment and rehabilitation.

"Matheesha has successfully undergone a left biceps femoris open surgical hamstring repair and has now begun the road to recovery in France. We are grateful to Sri Lanka Cricket and Kolkata Knight Riders for their outstanding support and commitment to his wellbeing throughout this process."

Kalugalage shared the update on June 16, along with a photograph of Pathirana recovering in a hospital bed. The young fast bowler arrived late for IPL 2026 after recovering from a calf strain sustained during the T20 World Cup.

Matheesha Pathirana Receives Strong Backing During Recovery Process

Amila Kalugalage backed Matheesha Pathirana to recover strongly from the setback. He expressed confidence in the bowler's commitment and said the rehabilitation period would help him return to full fitness and resume his career at the highest level.

"He will work hard, stay focused and be back doing what he loves soon. We look forward to seeing him back on the field stronger than ever."

Kolkata Knight Riders signed the Sri Lanka pacer for INR 18 crore ahead of IPL 2026. After completing fitness assessments with the franchise and receiving a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from Sri Lanka Cricket, the fast bowler was cleared to join the tournament only during the later stages of the season.

Pathirana played just one match for KKR, against Gujarat Titans on May 16, 2026. However, he suffered a left biceps femoris hamstring injury after bowling only eight deliveries. KKR later named uncapped Karnataka wicketkeeper-batter Luvnith Sisodia as his replacement for the remainder of the tournament.

Sri Lanka Cricket and KKR Backed Matheesha Pathirana Throughout Recovery Process

Pathirana will remain in France for a structured rehabilitation program under specialist supervision. Neither SLC nor his management team has announced a timeline for his return. Medical experts will continue to monitor his progress before deciding when he can resume bowling and return to competitive cricket.

Amila Kalugalage praised the support provided by Sri Lanka Cricket and Kolkata Knight Riders throughout the treatment process. He said the backing from both organizations has allowed Pathirana to focus fully on his recovery without additional pressure during a challenging period in his career.

"This journey was made possible with the outstanding support of Sri Lanka Cricket and Kolkata Knight Riders and we are truly grateful for their commitment to his wellbeing," Kalugalage said.

What can you say about Lionel Messi that hasn’t already been said? The man turns 39 next week, but for much of the 78 minutes that he was on the field against Algeria, he scampered around like the young teenager he was when he scored two goals against the same opposition at his beloved Camp Nou 19 years ago.

The hat-trick he scored took him level with Miroslav Klose at the top of the all-time World Cup scoring charts, and it was easy to forget that he had another goal ruled out for offside by the width of a boot.

Look at the quality of the first and third goals. The first, from distance, was like one of the Exocet missiles used in the Falklands War four decades ago. Luca Zidane got both hands to it, but there was no way he was keeping it out. The second was one of the simplest tap-ins of his illustrious career, gifted by a hideous blunder from the goalkeeper. But the third was vintage Messi – after neat interplay with Nico González, he arrowed a shot inside the post with the kind of laser-guided precision that has been his calling card for two decades now.

In front of a capacity crowd at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium, and with another sporting legend – Patrick Mahomes, NFL quarterback and local hero – watching on, Messi left his mark in emphatic fashion. His message was clear: he is very much still here, and he is here to compete and win.

This ultimately comfortable first outing has spared Argentina fans the kind of heartburn they experienced in Qatar four years ago. Then, defeat to Saudi Arabia in the opening game meant everything that followed became a must-win. Here, they can go into the game against Austria secure in the knowledge that a place in the last 32 is all but assured.

A few hours earlier, France, beaten finalists in 2022, had thrown down the gauntlet. Argentina responded. To be fair, the test they faced was nowhere near as intense as the examination France had to undergo. Algeria are probably one of Africa’s better footballing sides, but they have far too often been lightweight and physically unthreatening.

Their team selection also suggested that this match was not their priority, with Riyad Mahrez, Houssem Aouar and Mohamed Amoura all left on the bench until midway through the second half. Even then, Algeria had opportunities. If Farès Chaïbi had bent his run slightly better early on before finishing clinically past Emiliano Martínez, the game might have taken a different turn. But as it was, despite some pretty passing patterns, there was next to no cutting edge for most of the match.

Alexis Mac Allister largely neutralised Ibrahim Maza in midfield, and there were few clear-cut chances. Algeria are also not a team that press in a concerted fashion, which makes it hard to judge just how good Argentina are. You can be sure, for example, that Austria will test Facundo Medina, the makeshift left-back, far more than Algeria did.

Argentina’s players will also not have the kind of time on the ball that they did here, with Algeria content to sit back for long periods. But as first hurdles go, this was negotiated with relative ease.

Argentina’s greatest strength is the continuity in their core group, and that showed in the way the players combined at times today. There are holes in the squad, but this is still a team very capable of going a long, long way.

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Missouri [US], June 17 (ANI): Lionel Messi, at the age of 38, has broken his contemporary and arch-rival Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo’s record for the oldest player to score a hat-trick at the FIFA World Cup, according to Fox Sports. The Argentine legend opened his 2026 World Cup campaign with a brilliant hat-trick, leading Argentina to a 3-0 win over Algeria on Tuesday (local time).

At 38 years and 357 days, Messi has become the oldest player in men’s World Cup history to register both a brace and a hat-trick. In the process, he surpassed Ronaldo to become the oldest player to score a World Cup hat-trick, overtaking Ronaldo’s record set at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, where he famously netted a hat-trick against Spain at the age of 33, according to Fox Sports.

Messi, in his 200th appearance for Argentina, scored three different types of goals. Messi’s first came from a powerful long-range strike in the 17th minute after a quick free-kick from Argentina’s Rodrigo De Paul.

His second was a close-range finish after a rebound fell kindly in the box following an effort from Mac Allister. He completed his hat-trick in the 76th minute with a composed curling finish after initiating the move himself with a mazy run.

With the hat-trick, Messi registered his name in the record books for multiple accolades, the most notable being for the joint-most goals in World Cup history. Messi is now tied with Germany’s Miroslav Klose on 16 goals in FIFA World Cup history.

He also moved past Brazil’s Ronaldo (15 goals), as well as Germany’s Gerd Muller and France’s Kylian Mbappe, who were both on 14 goals. Notably, Mbappe had earlier equalled Muller’s tally with a brace in France’s 3-1 win over Senegal earlier in the day.

Notably, the hat-trick also came exactly 20 years after Messi’s first World Cup goal in 2006, which came in Argentina’s 6-0 win over Serbia in the 2006 World Cup, adding a historic milestone to his landmark performance. (ANI)

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