Argentina 3 Algeria 0
Just in case you didn’t realise, he’s still got it. What a way to end the day with some Messi magic in a World Cup yet again, the first 10 minutes were action packed with goals for both sides being disallowed for tight offsides to keep the game at 0-0. Until the 16th minute when De Paul played a splitting ball through to Messi who drove towards the edge of the box and curled a beauty past Luca Zidane to give Argentina the lead, Argentina dominated the first half and looked really comfortable at the back giving Algeria very little to be positive about heading into half-time. The second half picked up where the first half left as Argentina where looking for that second goal and eventually got it after a brilliant move with Mac Allister firing a shot from over 30 yards which was spilled by Zidane to Messi who rolled the ball in to double Argentina’s lead in the 60th minute, as Algeria pushed forward looking for a way back into the game Argentina broke forward with Messi leading the counter giving the ball out to Nico Gonzalez who gave it back to Messi on the edge of the box who took two touches and fired a missile past Zidane for the hat-trick in typical Messi fashion. An honour to watch the master at work yet again at a World Cup, cherish it because this will be the last one.
Another statement of intent by one of the favourites. Earlier on we saw France dismantle Senegal in the second half but this was a much more controlled performance by Argentina giving Algeria 0 shots on target in the 90 minutes which sums up the strength of this defence despite the lack of quality at full-back, Romero and Martinez were excellent at the back giving Algeria’s attackers nothing all game in typical no nonsense style which we’ve come to expect from Argentina. I thought Enzo Fernandez and Mac Allister where brilliant in the middle of the park along with De Paul in just trying to find Messi at any and all opportunities which is Argentina’s biggest strength, I’ll talk about Messi later on but it’s ridiculous at nearly 39 years of age he continues to look lightyears ahead of anyone else in the tournament so far. You can point to poor performances from Thiago Almada or Gonzalo Montiel but when you have Messi on top form it doesn’t really matter, just give him the ball and he’ll either score or set a teammate up, it’s that simple really.
A sobering opening game for Algeria. I actually thought Algeria started the game quite well and scored a lovely goal setup by their best player on the night Ibrahim Maza and finished by Fares Chaibi that was ruled out by VAR for offside but it did show that they do have quality in their team. Unfortunately that was when the attacking stopped from Algeria as they were on the receiving end of a Messi masterclass which they couldn’t really do much about, you could look at Luca Zidane for probably two of the goals and say he could have done better, especially the second goal where he spilled the shot straight to Messi who was never going to miss. There’s no point being too harsh on Algeria as Argentina were fabulous tonight but it does put pressure on their next two games as goal-difference could play a big part in who goes through in 3rd place, that Austria game is huge now.
I’m never going to get sick of Messi producing magic on the biggest stage. Going into the tournament with nothing left to prove after 2022 in Qatar I was wondering if Messi would still have that same fire that fuelled him in 2022 to lift the World Cup and I think that question has been answered tonight, the quality in every touch continues to leave me dazzled even in 2026 because you just don’t get it from any other player. The sheer amount of respect that every Argentine player on the pitch has for him that they are always trying to find him when they get the ball because they know that’s their best chance of winning football matches, if this is to be the last time we see him on the biggest stage I’m not missing a single minute of Argentina’s matches this tournament. Can Argentina be the third team to go back-to-back this World Cup? You wouldn’t bet against them with Messi in top form.
What a day of World Cup football. Whether it’s a Messi masterclass, Mbappe breaking records or Haaland opening up his World Cup account we’ve had everything today. Tomorrow we see Portugal in action where no doubt Ronaldo will be looking to respond after Messi stealing all the headlines tonight which should be interesting to see the least, England also start their World Cup campaign against Croatia which is sure make headlines either way in a rematch of the 2018 World Cup semi-final. Ghana and Colombia are also in action tomorrow night against Panama and Uzbekistan so there’s plenty of games to keep us occupied tomorrow, should be another great day of World Cup football.