Messi draws level with Klose as hat-trick v Algeria kicks off Argentina's title defence

Lionel Messi recorded yet another accolade in his legendary career just a week shy of his 39th birthday, hitting his first World Cup hat-trick as Argentina dispatched Algeria 3-0 in their opening Group J match.

And the mini magician equalled Miroslav Klose’s all-time World Cup goalscoring record with his third goal, bent from outside the penalty area into the bottom corner, just hours after Kylian Mbappe took his overall tally to only two behind the German great.

La Albiceleste got the defence of their title off to the perfect start in Kansas City with a clinical performance against the AFCON quarter-finalists, who had a first-half goal ruled out for a tight offside but whose threat diminished as the game progressed.

Messi sent the crowd into raptures after only six minutes when he latched onto a Lautaro Martinez pass and lifted it over Luca Zidane, but the goal was rightly ruled out for offside and moments later Fares Chaibi saw a carbon-copy effort also disallowed.

But Argentina didn’t have to wait long to get on the scoreboard, as Messi collected a Rodrigo De Paul pass between the lines, drove towards the penalty area then smashed his swerving shot through Zidane - son of French icon Zinedine - and into the net.

Argentina’s rotation between the midfield and forward lines caused trouble for Algeria throughout, but it took until the hour mark for them to make it really count again, when Zidane spilled an Alexis Mac Allister shot from distance and Messi was the quickest player to react, poking the ball into the bottom corner.

Algeria benched captain Riyad Mahrez in favour of a more youthful attack but rarely exposed the Argentine defence, and failed to record a shot on target all night despite throwing more and more men forwards as the game progressed.

And Messi wrote his name into the history books moments after a penalty shout was waved away, starting the counter with a clever pass to Nico Gonzalez, before recovering the ball and curling his third goal into the corner. He soon left the field for Nico Paz to a standing ovation.

Argentina’s next match is before Les Bleus', so Messi will have the chance to break Klose’s record ahead of Mbappe, when La Seleccion face Austria on Monday. But even more importantly than that, it was a dominant performance by the defending champions in all phases of play as everyone in blue and white played their part.

After a year spent playing mostly inferior opposition, they showed they’ve lost none of their sharpness, putting a fancied Algeria side to the sword and now with one foot already in the knockout round.

Meanwhile, The Fennecs’ World Cup dreams are far from over, but they will need more incision to get their campaign back on track against Jordan.