Lionel Messi scored his first career World Cup hat-trick on Tuesday night in Kansas City, leading Argentina to a 3-0 win over Algeria in the opening match of their title defense.
The 38-year-old needed only 76 minutes to draw level with Miroslav Klose’s all-time World Cup scoring record of 16 goals. The performance left Xavi, who spent 11 years alongside Messi at Barcelona, reaching for basketball’s greatest player to describe what he had just watched.
Xavi Heaps Praise On Lionel Messi With Unsurprising Comparison
Writing in The Athletic, Xavi explained where he now places his former teammate in the sport’s history.
“I like to say that he is the Michael Jordan of football. In football, there is no one to compare to him. He has surpassed the greats of the past because of his longevity: he’s been the best for the last 20 years. Even now, after all this time, he goes and out and shows us that,” Xavi wrote.
The Jordan comparison is not new to Messi, but Xavi’s framing leans more on longevity than on peak dominance. The numbers from last week back that argument up. Messi’s hat-trick pushed his career World Cup goal contributions to 24, moving him past Pele’s previous record of 21.
His 16 tournament goals now match Klose across four different World Cups dating back to his debut in 2006.
Xavi then explained what makes Messi so great:
“His mentality is extraordinary. For me, that’s what sets him apart. He can’t stand losing. He’s got the perfect temperament for football and the perfect physique: his body is tailor-made for the game. Forget about the goals he scored against Algeria; look at his all-round play, his physical condition, the sheer drive and ambition he brings to the game.”
Messi did not just score three goals; he led Argentina in shots with six, tied for the most touches in Algeria’s penalty box, and trailed only Rodrigo De Paul and Enzo Fernandez in tackles made for the entire team.
Messi will get a chance to break the all-time World Cup scoring record outright when Argentina faces Austria on June 22, needing just one goal to move past Klose.
With Xavi now placing Messi alongside a generational great like MJ, it’s clear that the Argentine legend’s impact exceeds the sport. And his legacy as an all-time great in sports would only be greater if Argentina wins its fourth FIFA World Cup, which definitely looks possible.
