By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Photo Credit: FIFA.
Data provided by Connected Ball Technology housed within the adidas Trionda, the official match ball of the FIFA World Cup 2026™, showcases the statistics behind Leo Messi’s stunning hat-trick against Algeria.
With this milestone, he has officially tied Germany’s Miroslav Klose as the all-time leading goal scorer in FIFA World Cup history, with 16 goals.
The hat trick was the 11th of Messi’s international career but first at the World Cup. At 38, he became the oldest player to score three goals in a game at the tournament.
The Argentina captain scored his first goal from a distance of 21m, with the ball swerving 0.8m, travelling at a top speed of 109.4 km/h and a max spin of 16.8 rotations per second. His second goal came from close range at 8.7m and a max speed of 71.2 km/h, before he completed his historic treble with a precision strike reaching 106.9 km/h at a distance of 17.5m and a max spin of 6.6 rotations per second.
The goals were scored by Argentina’s number 10 with the player wearing the adidas F50 Messi ‘El Último Tango’ (The Last Tango), a special-edition boot unveiled for Messi’s historic sixth World Cup.
In a venue where Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has so often commanded the spotlight, it was time for some Messi magic.
Mahomes was present in the crowd on Tuesday, with the NFL star sharing a goat emoji and video of the Argentine on social media, sports shorthand for “the greatest of all time.”
“It’s an honor being up there for what it means, being alongside Klose and [Brazil’s] Ronaldo, who is there also. But it doesn’t mean anything,” Messi said after the game.
Meanwhile Austria celebrated their long-awaited return to the World Cup with a 3-1 win over determined debutants Jordan on Tuesday, with substitute Marko Arnautovic the difference in a gritty, end-to-end Group J match.
Elsewhere Erling Haaland, a dominant presence in English football who had struggled to score in the middle of the season, showed his predatory instincts to help Norway to a 4-1 victory over Iraq.