Messi's hat trick leads Argentina to victory over Algeria
Lionel Messi rolled back the years with a hat-trick as the holders Argentina swept past Algeria to lay down an early marker in their title defence.
Messi opened the scoring on 17 minutes, set up by Rodrigo de Paul, and never looked back. He doubled the lead on the hour and completed his treble on 76, Nico González providing the third assist of a masterful individual display.
Algeria had no answer to the genius of the Argentine captain. The champions are up and running — and Messi, even now, remains the man who makes them tick.
Photo: "Lionel Messi" by Hossein Zohrevand / CC BY 4.0 — via Wikimedia Commons (source)
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