2026 World Cup: Lionel Messi's genius already shining at this summer's tournament

Ahead of Argentina's 2026 World Cup clash with Austria, Sports Mole's senior reporter Oliver Thomas discusses Lionel Messi after the superstar struck a hat-trick in his country's opening match of the tournament against Algeria.

Oliver Thomas, senior reporter: "What else can we say about Lionel Messi?"

What else can we say about Lionel Messi? We're all running out of superlatives to describe who many believe is the greatest of all time.

He turns 39 next week, but he just continues to deliver when it matters most. He's still a joy to watch.

He's equalled Miroslav Klose's record of 16 goals at the World Cup, and you'd think he'd go on to break that now, potentially in this match.

Messi would be a fitting holder of that record, although players like Kylian Mbappe may have something to say about that.

Messi was the star of the show for Argentina in this win over Algeria. His hat-trick was scored 20 years to the day that he scored his very first World Cup goal.

This hat-trick was maybe helped by the goalkeeping display of Luca Zidane, the son of Zinedine Zidane, who had a real night to forget in goal for Algeria.

He should have done better for that first goal. He got two hands to Messi's long-range shot, but the ball still made its way into the far corner, and then he gifted Messi a simple tap-in when he parried another shot from distance.

Nothing should be taken away from Messi, though. There was a point, before or just after he'd won the World Cup in Qatar, where we didn't think we'd see him again on the world stage.

He's back, he's still going strong, and he's arrived at this tournament with an emphatic performance against Algeria. Having a player like Messi who can still deliver in those game-changing moments has reminded a lot of fans that this Argentina side are still ready to compete.

They're ready to retain this title. Can they go toe-to-toe with some of these elite European nations? That remains to be seen in the latter stages. But confidence is high, and both Messi and Argentina are in a really good place at the moment. It's just staggering.

Since the age of 35, he's scored more World Cup goals than players such as Kane and Ronaldo. He just continues to do it. He's got the most World Cup appearances of all time.

He's got two World Cup golden balls, and no one else has done that. He's got the trophy, which was all important in Qatar. For so many years the World Cup seemed like the stage where he fell just short, but he now seems to be the absolute king of the World Cup.