Kochi: Lionel Messi scored his first-ever World Cup hat-trick to lead defending champions Argentina to 3-0 victory against Algeria.
Debuting in World Cup 20 years back in 2006 in Germany, the 38-year-old struck his 61st hat-trick and his 11th for Argentina.
Messi is the second player after Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo to score in five different editions of the World Cup.
More significantly, his hat-trick took his World Cup tally to 16 goals, drawing him level with Klose’s long-standing record.
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