Lionel Messi has shared the reason he became emotional and shed tears during his stunning hat-trick against Algeria, a performance that saw him equal Miroslav Klose’s record at the top of the all-time FIFA World Cup goalscoring chart.

The Argentine captain guided his team to a convincing 3-0 victory over Algeria in their opening match of the 2026 World Cup, marking the first time he has scored a hat-trick at football’s most prestigious tournament.

Messi opened the scoring in the 17th minute with a superb curling strike from the edge of the penalty area, sparking jubilant celebrations with his teammates.

After the group celebration ended, cameras captured Messi wiping tears from his eyes on his shirt before the game resumed.

The 38-year-old later explained that his emotions were unrelated to the match itself.

“Honestly, it had nothing to do with football. I’ve been through some very difficult, complicated days,” Messi admitted.

“I’m thankful to the entire delegation and to my teammates. They have always been there for me, as they always are. They gave me a lot of strength to get through it, and that’s all,” he added.

Messi’s emotional display came as he moved level with Klose on 16 World Cup goals, one ahead of Brazilian legend Ronaldo. German great Gerd Muller and France’s Kylian Mbappe, who netted twice earlier in the day against Senegal, share fourth place with 14 goals each.

The duel between Messi and Mbappe for the all-time top scorer position is shaping up to be one of the most captivating storylines of this World Cup. However, Messi insisted he is not preoccupied with chasing the record.

“Honestly, no,” he replied when asked about the milestone. “It’s an honour to be there because of what it represents, being next to Klose and Ronaldo, but it doesn’t mean much to me.”

“Mbappe is there, he scored two today. It’s just a statistic, nothing more. While it’s an honour to compete with players of that calibre, it doesn’t carry any special meaning for me.”

“Ronaldo, from what I saw, was one of the greatest ever, and even he isn’t in first place, so at the end of the day it’s just a number,” Messi continued.

Messi’s next opportunity to surpass Klose and claim the record outright will come on Monday when Argentina face Austria. They will then conclude their group stage campaign with a fixture against Jordan the following Saturday (overnight into Sunday, UK time).