On December 18, 2022, Lionel Messi ‘completed’ football. As Peter Drury’s poetic monologue put it when he lifted the World Cup, “Lionel Messi has conquered his final peak! Lionel Messi has shaken hands with paradise! The little boy from Rosario, Santa Fe, has just pitched up in heaven.” With the win over France in Qatar 2022, Messi added the one major trophy that was missing from his cabinet. Once the elation died down, everyone asked the same question: What next? Well, Carli Lloyd has found the answer in Argentina’s 2026 World Cup opener against Algeria.

According to the former American two-time women’s World Cup winner, this time around, Messi is free of all that weighed him down before. After the Albiceleste captain’s hat-trick, Lloyd wrote, “Messi is playing with complete freedom. He’s already achieved the ultimate goal by winning the World Cup, and that makes him even more dangerous this tournament. No pressure or expectations to live up to, just pure football. Enjoy every moment while we still can. There’s simply no one else like him.”

Lloyd’s observation rings true. It does not only stem from her admiration of Lionel Messi as a player. For the longest time, Messi faced the brunt of Argentina’s faltering at the international level. They lost the 2014 World Cup final and after that, two Copa America finals, which prompted Messi to temporarily retire from the national team. Since his debut against Serbia and Montenegro in 2006, his every step has been compared to the great Diego Maradona. Not leading Argentina to a World Cup like Maradona in 1986 was a phantom that chased Messi throughout his career.

Despite collecting multiple Ballon d’Ors for fun, winning four Champions League titles, 13 leagues across La Liga (10), Ligue 1 (2), and the Supporters’ Shield (1), and setting countless individual records, Messi’s international legacy was often judged through what he had not yet achieved.

That burden was lifted in Qatar in 2022, when Argentina beat France. So, he arrived at the 2026 World Cup in a position that few elite athletes ever find themselves in: with nothing left to prove.

Lloyd believes that makes Messi dangerous. His hat-trick in the opener proves her true.

Messi’s first World Cup hat-trick puts another record within reach

Messi delivered one of the standout performances of the tournament so far and of his World Cup career. He scored the first FIFA World Cup hat-trick of his career as Argentina defeated Algeria 3-0 in Kansas City. 

The goals came in the 17th, 60th, and 76th minutes. The third of the lot was a trademark Lionel Messi goal. Receiving possession outside the box, he created just enough space with a simple body feint before bending one in to the bottom right corner, not too far away from the Algerian goalkeeper Luca Zidane, whose father Zinedine Zidane watched from the stands.

Many people touted Messi and Kylian Mbappe to break Miroslav Klose’s all-time World Cup scoring record of 16 goals. Just hours after Kylian Mbappe scored a brace to take himself past France’s all-time leading World Cup goal scorer, Just Fontaine, and one ahead of Messi himself, the Argentine responded with a hat trick to go level with Klose.

Messi achieved another milestone by breaking Pelé’s World Cup goal contributions (21), bringing his total to 24. This came exactly 20 years after he made his World Cup debut against Serbia and Montenegro in Germany, where he also scored and assisted to establish himself on the global stage.

Argentina still has group-stage matches against Austria and Jordan remaining. Meaning, Messi now has numerous opportunities to surpass Klose and claim sole possession of another World Cup record. However, what stood out most against Algeria were not the statistics.

Lionel Messi was seen crying after scoring the opening goal in Argentina’s opening 2026 World Cup match against Algeria. He explained later that this was because of some difficult times he was going through personally. He kept the specifics private and thanked his teammates and staff for their support throughout this difficult time.

Coach Scaloni took Messi off with 10 minutes to spare on the clock, proving Carli Lloyd right. A player with nothing left to prove, still doing this, on this stage, at this age, is not just special. He is something the sport may never see again.