Argentina’s captain Lionel Messi said it was an honor to score his maiden World Cup hat trick against Algeria as the defending champions registered a comprehensive 3-0 win. Messi was at his absolute best against the North African country and became the joint highest goal-scorer (16) in the World Cup history along with Germany’s Miroslav Klose.

Messi became the first-ever player to feature in six World Cups during Argentina’s match on Tuesday night.

Messi scored from outside the box in the 17th minute to give an early lead to Argentina. His second goal was an easy tap in after Algeria’s goalkeeper Zidane failed to collect the ball cleanly whereas he scored another stunning goal in the 76th minute to complete his hat-trick.

Messi said after the game, “It’s an honor being up there for what it means, being alongside Klose and Ronaldo [Nazario], who is there also. But it doesn’t mean anything. [Kylian] Mbappé is there, too, he scored twice today. At the end of the day, they are stats and nothing more.

“It’s an honor to compete with them, but it doesn’t mean anything. For me, Ronaldo, who I watched and is one of the greats, is not at the top. So, it’s just stats.”

Messi was seen turning emotional after he scored his first goal in the 17th minute and he said it meant a lot to him.

He said, “Why did I cry? It was something completely unrelated to football.

“I went through some difficult days, but I’m grateful to the entire delegation and my teammates because they were always by my side, giving me a lot of strength to help me get through it.

“It makes me very happy to have lived through everything that came my way.

“What I’m living through now is the cherry on top. I’m very happy and grateful for this wonderful group, I enjoy it so much.” 

La Albiceleste will next take on Austria in the group stage match of the World Cup on June 22.