KANSAS CITY — This was supposed to be Kansas City’s big night, making history as the city hosts a World Cup game for the first time, but Lionel Messi had to go and steal the show and make it all about himself.
Messi’s magical performance is all anyone anywhere is going to remember or talk about for days. The first World Cup hat trick of his career, to tie German legend Miroslav Klose for the most goals in World Cup history (16); that he scored all three goals and Argentina began their world title defense with a resounding 3-0 victory over Algeria in America’s Heartland; that at just a week shy of 39 years old, the magic is far from gone.
He became the first male player to play at six different World Cups on Tuesday, but 69,405 still showed up expecting to be entertained, ooh’d and aah’d and wow’d, and somehow he still exceeded expectations. Messi had them in the palm of his hand for the 80 minutes he required to collect his goals. On the 20th anniversary of his World Cup debut, Messi remains the ultimate showman, still making it look effortless as he runs circles around world-class players a decade (or two) younger than him.
“I can’t ask for anything more. God gave me too much, now everything is just to enjoy,” Messi told reporters after the game. “I’m just happy to be considered as one of the best in football history. I’m just grateful to be considered among many great players.”
There were questions about how much Messi had left in the tank ahead of this tournament (fairly so), but all was made abundantly clear on Argentina’s opening night: He’s nowhere near done, and you’re going to have to come and take the World Cup from them.
The only thing left for Messi to do now is to separate himself from Diego Maradona with a second (straight) World Cup victory. Maradona famously led Argentina to the 1986 title and achieved football immortality, just as Messi did four years ago in Qatar. Right now, it’s Maradona and Messi. Win another one, history reads “Messi and Maradona” forever.