Lionel Messi won the first Messi vs Ronaldo round of this World Cup with a hat-trick in Argentina's 3-0 win over Algeria at Kansas City Stadium in the United States on the 17th. At 38 years and 357 days, he also became the oldest player to score a World Cup hat-trick and the first player in history to appear in six World Cups.
The finish pushed him to 16 career World Cup goals, level with Miroslav Klose for the most in the tournament's history. Messi also reached 24 career World Cup attacking points, with 16 goals and 8 assists.
Lionel Messi at Kansas City Stadium
The hat-trick gave Argentina a clean start and turned the opening match into a record night for its captain. Messi had not scored in the 2010 South Africa tournament, so the three goals stretched his World Cup scoring line across five tournaments and left him as the second player in history to score in five World Cup tournaments after Cristiano Ronaldo.
The timing mattered because the 17th was only the opening stage of this rivalry in the 2026 FIFA North American World Cup. Messi answered first, and he did it with the kind of production that moves a player from a long-running debate into record territory.
Cristiano Ronaldo at Houston Stadium
Ronaldo's side took a different path on the 18th. He started and played the full 90 minutes in Portugal's 1-1 draw with the Democratic Republic of the Congo at Houston Stadium in the United States, but he recorded three shots and none on target.
That contrast is sharp. While Messi left the 17th with three goals and a historic appearance mark, Ronaldo left his first match without a shot on target, even as the Democratic Republic of the Congo scored its first-ever World Cup goal and earned its first-ever point in a World Cup finals match after 52 years.
Messi and Ronaldo
The two first matches created the early split in Messi and Ronaldo. One forward moved into the record book with a hat-trick and a sixth World Cup appearance; the other completed 90 minutes without a shot on target in a 1-1 draw. For readers tracking the rivalry, the immediate answer is simple: Messi set the pace, and Ronaldo has work to do if he wants to swing the next turn of the World Cup fight.
