Argentina got their World Cup defence off to a flying start in the early hours of Wednesday morning with Lionel Messi predictably stealing the show
Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland both made statements on Tuesday evening for France and Norway, respectively; scoring braces in their country’s wins against Senegal and Iraq, but in the early hours of Wednesday morning, an old-timer reminded everyone of who is boss.
Lionel Messi, a week shy of his 39th birthday, scored his first-ever hat-trick at the World Cup and his three goals were enough to move him level with Germany legend Miroslav Klose as the highest scorer in the competition’s history. Messi now has 16 goals to his name in the World Cup – a record he will surely surpass in the coming weeks after Argentina got off to the perfect start against Algeria in Kansas.
Messi opened the scoring with a long-range strike – one where Luca Zidane, son of Real Madrid and France legend Zinedine, could have done better. It was 2-0 in the second half when Liverpool midfielder Alexis Mac Allister saw his shot parried by Zidane into the path of Messi, who had the simple task of doubling his tally and the world champions’ advantage at the Kansas City Stadium.
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With less than 15 minutes of normal time left to play, Messi completed his hat-trick with the pick of the goals; side-footing the ball low into the corner from the edge of the box to get Argentina’s World Cup defence up and running this summer. Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez completed the full match and was, unsurprisingly, very complimentary of his teammate Messi.
“There are no words to describe Messi,” said Fernandez, speaking in the mixed zone post-match. “He’s on fire. Brilliant!
“The squad are having a great time with him. We’ve got a phenomenal bond. A fantastic team. And Leo is just one of the lads. He is always very calm about things. We’re really pleased to have kicked off the World Cup like this.
“There was a lot of anxiety and nerves about being back here on the pitch and representing all Argentinians. You can really feel the fans’ affection and love.”
While Fernandez helped Argentina on their way, incoming Chelsea signing Valentin Barco did not get on the pitch. The 21-year-old midfielder, despite scoring in Argentina’s final warm-up match against Iceland on June 10, was an unused substitute in the victory over Algeria.
Fernandez and Barco are international colleagues but whether they are playing their football at Chelsea next season remains to be seen. The former recently informed the Blues of his desire to leave this summer, with Real Madrid understood to be interested in signing the midfielder, football.london understands.
Chelsea are not actively looking to sell Fernandez this summer but equally, the club will not block a move should a £120million offer arrive their way between now and the conclusion of the transfer window. Whatever ends up happening, the Blues and incoming manager Xabi Alonso will want his future sorted out as soon as possible in order to give the club as much of the summer to work on the squad.
