Made different by Messi

In his sixth World Cup appearance, Lionel Messi still shone brightly like a man in his twenties. The difference was that Messi led Argentina to victory against Algeria in the opening match of their title defense campaign.

After a 36-year wait, since Argentina won the 1986 World Cup in Mexico thanks to the brilliance of legend Diego Maradona, Messi and Argentina finally fulfilled their dream of winning the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Coming to this year 's world football festival in North America, coach Lionel Scaloni 's team carries a new mission: to defend their title. However, this is no easy task, as only Italy and Brazil have ever achieved this feat in World Cup history, and that was over 60 years ago. It's worth remembering that in recent World Cups, the defending champions have often failed to advance beyond the group stage. Therefore, for what could be Leo Messi's last World Cup , the entire team is ready to fight for their beloved Messi, their genius , and conversely, the number 10 is also the pillar leading Argentina to conquer the challenges on their journey to defend their crown. At 8 AM on June 18th (Hanoi time), Argentina began their journey to defend their championship title with a match against Algeria. This match wasn't considered a major challenge for Lionel Messi and his teammates, theoretically. However, a closer look at Algeria's form and technical characteristics revealed it could have been a very difficult game for them. Nevertheless, all problems were resolved on a day when Lionel Messi shone brightly.

On Algeria's side, after a 12-year return to the World Cup , the North African team showed they are not an easy opponent to bully. Coach Vladimir Petkovic's team secured their ticket to North America with a convincing qualifying campaign . Algeria topped Group G in the African region, losing only one match and officially qualifying for the World Cup with one match to spare. Only two African teams scored more goals than them in the qualifying round. Their elimination in the quarter-finals of this year's CAN Cup partly reflects Algeria's potential under Petkovic . After that tournament, they continued to have positive results with a 7-0 victory against Guatemala, a 0-0 draw against Uruguay, before defeating the Netherlands and Bolivia this month. At this time, Algeria is ranked 28th in the world, 27 places behind Argentina, but Algeria has had a relatively impressive run-up to the match against Messi and his teammates. Notably, the " Desert Warriors " beat the Netherlands 1-0 in Rotterdam, and also defeated Bolivia 4-0, so Algeria is completely confident they can shock Argentina in their opening match. However, confidence alone is not enough for the North African team to make a difference against the reigning champions.

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Both teams started the match with great enthusiasm, with Argentina showcasing their status as the defending champions with a dominant performance. Conversely, Algeria organized their defense from afar to limit the central attacks of Argentina's star strikers. Just over 10 minutes into the game, both teams' number 10s found the net, but the goals were disallowed for offside. However, fans didn't have to wait long; in the 17th minute, Lionel Messi unleashed a spectacular long-range shot from outside the penalty area into the top corner of the net, leaving the Algerian goalkeeper helpless and giving Argentina the lead. After the opening goal, the pace of the game slowed down somewhat, with Algeria creating several dangerous opportunities in the final minutes, but the 1-0 lead for Argentina ended the first half.

The scenario from the first half was repeated in the second, with Argentina dominating while Algeria adopted a defensive approach, seeking counter-attacking opportunities. But once again, Lionel Messi made the difference. Messi's goal came from a long-range shot from outside the penalty area by Mac Allister; goalkeeper Zidane pushed the ball away, and El Pulga , seemingly appearing out of nowhere, easily tapped it in from close range to complete his brace, increasing Argentina's lead to 2-0 in the 59th minute. The 39-year-old superstar nearly scored his first hat trick of the 2026 World Cup if goalkeeper Zidane hadn't made a superb save. However, in the 76th minute, nothing could stop Lionel from achieving a miracle in his sixth World Cup appearance. From the edge of the penalty area, Messi unleashed a superb left-footed shot that curled just below the post, beating the Algerian goalkeeper to complete his hat-trick. Immediately after extending Argentina's lead to 3-0, Lionel Messi was substituted by coach Scaloni . However, Algeria were unable to find a consolation goal in the remaining minutes. With this resounding victory in their opening match, Messi and his teammates affirmed their status as the reigning champions and are ready to pursue their ambition of lifting the World Cup trophy for the second consecutive time.

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