Lionel Messi has had a brilliant start to the World Cup.
The soccer superstar scored a hat-trick in Argentina's victory over Algeria. Argentina won 3-0 in the match on Wednesday morning. The match was played in Kansas City and belonged to Group J.
Messi scored a superb goal in the 17th minute to make it 1-0. He added two more goals for one of the best nights of his amazing career. He scored for 2-0 in the 60th minute and for 3-0 in the 76th minute. It was his first hat-trick in the World Cup, where he is appearing for the sixth time.
Messi left the field in the 80th minute and left amidst loud applause and cheers from the fans.
He played his 200th match for Argentina, and now has 120 goals.
Messi has scored 16 goals in the World Cup. He shares the record for most goals with Germany's Miroslav Klose.
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Argentina in the lead with Messi's historic goal
This is just the beginning for the Argentine phenomenon, however. With Messi on the pitch, Argentina is looking to defend their world title.
