Argentina started the defence of their FIFA World Cup title in impressive style on Wednesday morning, beating Algeria 3-0 in their Group J opening match at Arrowhead Stadium thanks to a brilliant performance from captain Lionel Messi.
The Argentina star scored all three goals to lead his team to victory and add another memorable moment to his World Cup career.
Messi’s hat-trick took his World Cup goal tally to 16, putting him level with Miroslav Klose as the tournament’s all-time top scorer.
Argentina thought they had taken the lead after only five minutes when Messi put the ball in the net. However, the goal was ruled out for offside after the assistant referee raised his flag.
A few minutes later, Algeria believed they had shocked the defending champions. Fares Chaibi scored into the bottom left corner after receiving a pass from Ibrahim Maza in the eighth minute. However, a VAR review showed that the goal was offside and it was disallowed.
Those early moments appeared to wake Argentina up, and Lionel Scaloni’s side finally took the lead in the 17th minute. A good passing move between Messi and Rodrigo De Paul created space near the penalty area, and Messi finished calmly into the top right corner.
Algeria tried to stay in the match, but Argentina controlled much of the game and scored a second goal in the 60th minute. Messi reacted first to a loose ball inside the box and fired a low shot into the middle of the net.
The historic moment arrived in the 76th minute when Nicolas Gonzalez passed the ball to Messi near the edge of the penalty area. The captain moved past his defender before curling a superb shot into the bottom left corner.
The goal completed Messi’s hat-trick and secured a comfortable win for the reigning world champions.
The result gives Argentina the perfect start to their World Cup campaign as they now look ahead to their second Group J match against Austria.
Algeria will now try to recover when they face Jordan in what has already become an important game for their hopes of reaching the knockout stage.
Share this:
One Comment