Argentina captain Lionel Messi enjoyed a “beautiful moment” on Wednesday after he became the joint all-time leading goalscorer in the World Cup. But he said, “ultimately, it is just a statistic, nothing more.”
The 38-year-old forward added another highlight to his amazing career by scoring a hat-trick in Argentina’s 3-0 victory over Algeria in Kansas City.
Messi’s hat-trick was his first ever in a World Cup and brought his total to 16 goals. This puts him level with Germany’s Miroslav Klose as the top scorer in World Cup history.
Brazilian legend Ronaldo follows closely behind with 15 goals. Gerd Muller and current French star Kylian Mbappe are next, each with 14 goals.
“To enjoy this with my family, with my teammates, the ones who are always there, is a really beautiful moment,” Messi, who plays for Inter Miami, said. “I’m happy.”
He continued, “It’s an honour to be there, given what it means to stand alongside Klose or the others. Ronaldo is there too, but I don’t think it means anything, Mbappe as well, who scored two today (in a 3-1 win against Senegal).
“In the end, it’s just a statistic and nothing more.”
Messi’s sharp goal-scoring ability gives Argentina hope of becoming the first team since Brazil in 1962 to win back-to-back World Cup titles.
“The squad, it’s a very united, very strong group,” he said. “I feel good. We were lucky enough to win a tough match. It’s important to start off with a win in the first game.
“I’m grateful to the fans because once again they’ve shown that Argentina is crazy about this, we packed the stadium again.”
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said he has run out of words to describe Messi. “For 20 years, he’s had us used to seeing things like this, and he inspires everyone who watches him play,” he said about Messi’s performance.
Argentina midfielder Alexis Mac Allister noted that Messi remains the heartbeat of the team, even as a veteran. “If anyone thought this group was better off without Leo, today it became clear that Leo is the most important of them all,” he said.
Rodrigo De Paul, who assisted the first goal, called the former Barcelona star “a beast.”
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