Kolkata : Lionel Messi, at the age of 38, has broken his contemporary and arch-rival Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo’s record for the oldest player to score a hat-trick at the FIFA World Cup.
At 38 years and 357 days, Messi has become the oldest player in men’s World Cup history to register both a brace and a hat-trick. In the process, he surpassed Ronaldo to become the oldest player to score a World Cup hat-trick, overtaking Ronaldo’s record set at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, where he famously netted a hat-trick against Spain at the age of 33.
Messi, in his 200th appearance for Argentina, scored three different types of goals. Messi’s first came from a powerful long-range strike in the 17th minute after a quick free-kick from Argentina’s Rodrigo De Paul.
His second was a close-range finish after a rebound fell kindly in the box following an effort from Mac Allister. He completed his hat-trick in the 76th minute with a composed curling finish after initiating the move himself with a mazy run.
With the hat-trick, Messi registered his name in the record books for multiple accolades, the most notable being for the joint-most goals in World Cup history. Messi is now tied with Germany’s Miroslav Klose on 16 goals in FIFA World Cup history.
Notably, the hat-trick also came exactly 20 years after Messi’s first World Cup goal in 2006, which came in Argentina’s 6-0 win over Serbia in the 2006 World Cup, adding a historic milestone to his landmark performance.
