Lionel Messi made a successful start with his country’s national team in defending the FIFA World Cup title, as he scored a hat-trick that led Argentina to a 3-0 victory over Algeria on Wednesday, in the two teams’ first matches in Group Ten.

Messi equaled the record for the most goals scored by a player in the World Cup, as he tied with German Miroslav Klose with 16 goals each.

The hat-trick was an ideal celebration for Messi as he played his 200th international match for his country and participated for the sixth time in the World Cup, four years after winning the title in Qatar.

The confrontation was balanced between the two teams in terms of possession during the first half, with Argentina excelling on the offensive side, taking the lead with Messi’s first goal in the 17th minute, after the referee canceled a goal for each team due to offside.

In the second half, Argentina tightened its grip on the match and Messi added his second and third goals.

The match began with offensive pressure from Algeria and attempts by Argentina to impose its style. The first attempt was made in the fourth minute when Lautaro Martinez headed the ball with a header, but goalkeeper Luca Zidane blocked it, and the referee indicated that there was offside.

Messi put the ball past Luca Zidane in the fifth minute, but the referee did not count it as a goal due to offside.

In the eighth minute, Fares Shaybi received a pass from Ibrahim Mazza and shot the ball into the net, but the referee canceled the goal for offside after returning to video technology.

Argentina took the lead in the 17th minute when Rodrigo De Paul sent a long shot from the middle of the field towards Messi, who came forward and shot the ball with his foot.

Zidane tried to block the left foot from outside the penalty area with his hand, but he was unable to stop it and it went into the net.

The Algerian national team maintained its focus and succeeded in further strengthening its presence in terms of possession of the ball.

The two teams intensified their focus on defensive insurance, limiting the course of play to the midfield for a few minutes.

The Algerian team exerted continuous offensive pressure in the last minutes of the first half in search of an equalizer, and Chaybi threatened the goal more than once.

But the attempts failed, and the half ended with Argentina leading 1-0.

At the start of the second half, Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni brought on Nauel Molina instead of Gonzalo Montiel.

Argentina had a dangerous opportunity in the 51st minute, but Messi shot the ball over the crossbar, then Zidane blocked a dangerous ball from Martinez in the 54th minute.

Scaloni made two changes in the 55th minute, bringing on Julián Alvarez instead of Martinez and Nicholas Gonzalez instead of Thiago Almada.

Messi added the second goal for Argentina in the 60th minute when Alexis McAllister shot a strong ball that was blocked by goalkeeper Zidane, but it rebounded and Messi followed up with a shot into the net.

Algeria coach Vladimir Petkovic made three changes in the 64th minute, bringing on Houssem Aouar, Mohamed Amin Amoura and Riyad Mahrez instead of Hicham Boudaoui, Amine Joueiri and Anis Hadj Moussa.

Messi almost scored in the 66th minute when he launched and shot a powerful ball, but Zidane excelled in stopping it, but the goalkeeper was unable to save it.

To Messi’s shot, he continued his brilliance to add the third goal in the 76th minute.

Nicolas Paz participated in place of Messi in the 80th minute, and the Algerian coach made more than one substitution, but the remaining minutes did not lead to anything new, and the match ended with Argentina winning 3-0.