Why did Lionel Messi cry after scoring Argentina's opener vs Algeria in FIFA World Cup? ‘It was something…’

Lionel Messi couldn't control his tears as he broke down after scoring the opening goal during Argentina's 3-0 win over Algeria in a FIFA World Cup 2026 match on Wednesday.

Starting on his 200th game for Argentina, in a career that started on the same date (June 16), 20 years ago, Messi had found the net as soon as on the seventh minute, but was ruled off side.

But the 38 year-old didn't had to wait for long as Messi opened the scoring 10 minutes later with a scorching left-footer that kissed Algeria goalkeeper Luca Zidane's gloves to go into the top right corner.

With that goal, Messi became the second player after Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo as the only players to score in five different World Cups. Ronaldo had achieved the same in 2022.

However, Messi's tears had nothing to do with his record-breaking feat, or even football in general. He said that it was "completely unrelated to the game and revealed having gone some very difficult days.

After receiving a quick free-kick from Rodrigo de Paul in the middle, Messi twister and turned to unleash a left-footer just from outside of the box. Luca, who is the son of legendary French football Zinedine Zidane, couldn't do anything despite diving full stretched to hoe left.

Soon after the goal, Messi was seen in tears. Explaining his emotions post match, Messi said his reaction was due to the “difficult and complicated” times he had recently faced. "Why did I cry? It was something unrelated to the game.

"I went through some difficult and complicated days. I'm grateful to the team and all my teammates. They were always by my side and gave me the strength to get through this," said Messi who also became the joint top-scorer at FIFA World Cups along with Germany's Miroslav Klose - 16 goals.

Speaking about Argentina's performance, Messi praised the team's performance, saying the team managed the game well, stayed well-positioned in possession, and drew on experience from previous matches.

“We were well-positioned when we had the ball and we managed the game very well. We had the experience of the last one and nobody gives anything away,” said Messi, who added two more in the second half to complete his first World Cup hattrick in 20 years.

What is a hattrick in soccer?

Well, soccer is nothing but an another name for football. Known as the most popular sport in the world, most countries call it football, while a few spell it as soccer, including United States. The likes of Australia and Canada are also among the countries to call football as soccer.

A hattrick in soccer is said when any player scores three or more goals in a single game, just like what Messi did against Algeria.

List of players with FIFA World Cup hattricks

A total of 55 hattricks have been scored in FIFA World Cup so far in its 96-year history. Messi became the fourth Argentinean to score a World Cup hattrick after Guillermo Stábile (1930), Gabriel Batistuta (1994 & 1998) and Gonzalo Higuain (2010). Argentina will next play Austria and Jordan on June 22 and 28 respectively.

Get all updates from FIFA World Cup 2026 here, along with FIFA World Cup 2026 Complete Schedule and FIFA World Cup 2026 Points Table.