Lionel Messi’s World Cup hat trick gets monster crowd reaction outside of Arrowhead

Tuesday night’s World Cup match between Argentina and Algeria took place at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, but the crowd pop after Lionel Messi’s third goal of the contest might have reached Buenos Aires.

Messi began his 2026 World Cup campaign like a house on fire, scoring all the goals in the match. He found the back of the net 17 minutes into the contest to give Argentina the 1-0 lead. He scored his next two goals in the 60th and 76th minutes, respectively. After his third goal, the crowd gathered outside the stadium went bananas.

ABSOLUTE SCENES IN KANSAS CITY AS MESSI COMPLETES HIS HAT TRICK pic.twitter.com/BMH5pgeoNI

— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) June 17, 2026

Thanks in large part to Lionel Messi’s enduring scoring prowess, Argentina came through with a 3-0 victory for a terrific start to their World Cup title defense.

The 38-year-old Messi has also tallied 16 World Cup goals in his career, tied with Miroslav Klose for the all-time record. His hat trick on Tuesday was his first ever in his World Cup career.

Before his first goal, Messi had a shot turned away by Algeria goalkeeper Luca Zidane (son of France soccer legend and former World Cup winner Zinedine Zidane) and had another overturned on an offside call.

Messi finally broke through for his first goal off a perfect pass from his Inter Miami team-mate Rodrigo de Paul

Argentina’s win over Algeria further exorcised the demons of their shocking upset loss in the opener of their 2022 World Cup campaign at the hands of Saudi Arabia. Messi and company ultimately won the FIFA World Cup Trophy that year.

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