&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Lionel Messi on equalling Klose’s World Cup record: ‘It’s an honour but means nothing’")
Argentine superstar and defending world champion Lionel Messi has equalled Miroslav Klose’s tally of 16 goals in the World Cups with his hat-trick against Algeria in his team’s title-defence opener on Wednesday (Jun 17). A 3-0 win for Argentina saw Messi increase his World Cup goals tally to 16 and counting, the joint-most in the tournament's history. While he leads French striker Kylian Mbappe, who has 14 goals and counting to his name, Messi shrugged off this milestone by saying, ‘It’s an honour but doesn’t mean anything’.
Messi started for Argentina in their Group J opener in Kansas City, scoring his first goal in his sixth World Cup in the 17th minute. After escaping a potential card for his reckless tackle on defender Aissa Mandi in the 30th minute, Messi added more goals to his tally in the second half, completing his maiden World Cup hat-trick. His goals in the 60th and 76th minutes sealed a highlight moment and a comprehensive win for Argentina.
Also read | Social media erupts after Messi escapes red card for reckless challenge in Argentina's 3-0 win over Algeria
Speaking with Tyc Sports after the game, Messi felt honoured about equalling Klose’s long-standing record but dismissed hype around it, saying it doesn’t matter to him.
"Honestly, no [I don't attach importance to the record]. It's an honour to be there because of what it means to be there next to Klose, Ronaldo is there too, but I don't think it means anything.
"Mbappe is there; he scored two today. It's a statistic and nothing more. While it's an honour to be able to compete with all of them, it doesn't mean anything to me.
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"Ronaldo, from what I saw, was one of the greatest, and he's not in first place, so it all comes down to a statistic,” Messi said.
Messi cried after scoring his first goal
Messi had tears in his eyes after scoring the opener for Argentina; however, it had nothing to do with football. Explaining it, Messi said, "Honestly, completely unrelated to the sport, I went through some difficult, complicated days.
"I'm grateful to the entire delegation, to my teammates. They were always there for me, as always. They gave me a lot of strength to get through this, and that's all."
Messi’s Argentina will face Austria on Monday (Jun 22) in Dallas. A win in the second match will confirm their place in the next round.
