Lionel Messi proved age is just a number on Tuesday night, lighting up Arrowhead Stadium with a hat-trick that pushed Argentina past Algeria and rewrote yet another page of World Cup history.
The 38-year-old, now plying his trade with Inter Miami a long way from Europe’s elite leagues, scored once in the first half and twice after the break to draw level with Miroslav Klose on 16 World Cup goals.
It marked another milestone for a player who keeps collecting them. But when talk turned to records and rivals after the final whistle, his reaction revealed plenty about the man behind the numbers.
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The treble was Messi’s first at a World Cup and lifted him clear of Cristiano Ronaldo on 15. One more strike will make the Argentine the outright leading scorer in the competition’s entire history.
Messi has outscored Ronaldo, Maradona and Neymar across the last two World Cups alone, and matched the all-time World Cup record against Algeria that had stood since 2014.
Yet the man himself refused to make a fuss.
Asked directly (via Hayters TV) whether he pays any attention to his place at the top of the scoring charts, Messi was blunt.
He said: “No, honestly, no. It’s an honor to be up there for what it means — to be alongside Klose, and Ronaldo, who is also there. But I don’t think it means anything.
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“Mbappé scored twice today, too. In the end, they are statistics and nothing more. It’s a source of pride to compete with all of that, but it doesn’t mean anything.”
The Argentine then reserved warm words for the rival he has just overtaken.
He continued: “For me, Ronaldo — from what I saw — was one of the greatest, and he isn’t first. So it just comes down to a statistic.”
There is no needle here, only respect between two players who carved up a generation between them.
But the little magician keeps doing what he has always done — quietly stretching the gap, one record at a time.
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