Inter Miami captain Lionel Messi was the star turn of the opening round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup when he scored 3 goals in Argentina’s Group J opener against Algeria on Tuesday evening. Every Messi touch was wildly celebrated by the huge contingent of Argentina fans at Arrowhead Stadium.
Skip Bayless Compares Lionel Messi to Taylor Swift
After the game, analyst Skip Bayless compared Messi to Arrowhead Stadium favorite Taylor Swift, who is engaged to Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and who regularly attends games to watch her fiancé.
“Tonight at Arrowhead, Messi was even bigger than Taylor Swift,” Bayless wrote.
Since she started dating Kelce, Swift has fully made the crossover from mainstream music to the NFL due to her immense popularity among fans in both industries. She is set to get married to Kelce in a lavish ceremony whose location has been kept a closely guarded secret.
Messi Wows Patrick Mahomes at Arrowhead
Chiefs legend Patrick Mahomes was in the crowd for Messi’s dazzling performance, and after the game, the quarterback posted three goat emojis on X, symbolizing his awe for the Inter Miami forward. It was Messi’s first hat-trick at the World Cup, and it vaulted him to the top of the scorer’s chart at the 2026 edition.
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He also became the oldest player to have scored a hat-trick in men’s World Cup history, although he was fortunate to still be on the pitch to score the goals after appearing to stamp on Algeria defender Aissa Mandi’s calf in the first half, narrowly avoiding a red card.
The Argentinian star is now tied with Germany’s Miroslav Klose for the most goals in the tournament’s history, and he has the opportunity to take the record outright in his country’s game against Austria at Dallas Stadium on Monday, June 22. Argentina will conclude their group stage with a game against Jordan at the same venue on June 27.
The talented Argentinian forward, who is in the twilight of his career, upstaged the pretenders to his throne, France star Kylian Mbappe and Norway’s Erling Haaland, both of whom scored braces earlier against Senegal and Iraq.
Messi has already led Argentina to two World Cup finals, winning one in Qatar four years ago and losing one against Germany in Brazil in 2014. He became the first player to win the Golden Ball at the tournament twice after dragging Argentina to the trophy in 2022 and looks set to win the award for the third time in his illustrious career.
