{"id":33347,"date":"2026-06-17T09:10:49","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T08:10:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/?p=33347"},"modified":"2026-06-17T09:10:52","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T08:10:52","slug":"messi-calls-world-cup-goal-record-just-a-number-after-hat-trick-vs-algeria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/17\/messi-calls-world-cup-goal-record-just-a-number-after-hat-trick-vs-algeria\/","title":{"rendered":"Messi Calls World Cup Goal Record \u2018Just a Number\u2019 After Hat-Trick vs. Algeria"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (FN) \u2014 Lionel Messi brushed aside his latest milestone Tuesday after scoring a hat-trick in Argentina\u2019s 3-0 win over Algeria, saying his World Cup goal tally is \u201cjust a number.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 38-year-old forward\u2019s three goals brought him level with Germany\u2019s Miroslav Klose as the joint all-time top scorer in FIFA World Cup history with 16 goals. It was also Messi\u2019s first-ever World Cup hat-trick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo enjoy this with my family, with my teammates, the ones who are always there, is a really beautiful moment. I\u2019m happy,\u201d Messi said. \u201cIt\u2019s an honour to stand alongside Klose or the others. Ronaldo is there too, Mbapp\u00e9 as well, but in the end, it\u2019s just a statistic and nothing more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni praised Messi\u2019s consistency. \u201cFor 20 years, he\u2019s had us used to seeing things like this, and he inspires everyone who watches him play,\u201d Scaloni said. Midfielder Alexis Mac Allister called Messi \u201cthe most important of them all,\u201d while Rodrigo De Paul, who assisted one of the goals, described him simply as \u201ca beast.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Messi\u2019s performance gave Argentina a strong start to their World Cup campaign, reinforcing his central role in their bid to retain the title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Messi, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, has won every major trophy available to him, including the Copa Am\u00e9rica, Champions League, and the 2022 World Cup. His longevity and brilliance have kept him at the heart of Argentina\u2019s success across two decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The FIFA World Cup, first held in 1930, remains the pinnacle of international football, with records like Klose\u2019s and Messi\u2019s standing as benchmarks of greatness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On social media, fans celebrated Messi\u2019s achievement with hashtags like #MessiGOAT<\/strong> and #WorldCupLegend<\/strong>, while others echoed his humility, saying the joy of watching him play mattered more than numbers. Football authorities hailed the record as historic, with FIFA noting that Messi\u2019s feat \u201ccements his place among the immortals.\u201d Social commentators pointed out that his remarks reflect a broader truth about sport that memories and emotions often outweigh statistics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Football lovers around the world expressed awe. \u201cWe are lucky to witness this era,\u201d one supporter wrote. Another added, \u201cMessi makes records look ordinary, but they are extraordinary.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Messi\u2019s hat-trick may be \u201cjust a number\u201d to him, but to Argentina and millions of fans worldwide, it was another unforgettable chapter in his storied career.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (FN) \u2014 Lionel Messi brushed aside his latest milestone Tuesday after scoring a hat-trick in Argentina\u2019s 3-0 win over Algeria, saying his World Cup goal tally is \u201cjust a number.\u201d The 38-year-old forward\u2019s three goals brought him level with Germany\u2019s Miroslav Klose as the joint all-time top scorer in FIFA World Cup […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":33348,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2096,4,5,7],"tags":[19367,19360,19365,413,19361,19364,19363,18717,19366,19362,19368],"class_list":["post-33347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economics","category-featured","category-international","category-sports","tag-alexis-mac-allister","tag-argentina","tag-argentina-vs-algeria","tag-cristiano-ronaldo","tag-fifa-world-cup","tag-hat-trick","tag-kylian-mbappe","tag-lionel-messi","tag-lionel-scaloni","tag-miroslav-klose","tag-rodrigo-de-paul"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Screenshot_17-6-2026_908_thesun.ng_.jpeg?fit=1252%2C585&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33347"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33347\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33351,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33347\/revisions\/33351"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}