Missouri, June 17 : Lionel Messi, at the age of 38, has broken his contemporary and arch-rival Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo's record for the oldest player to score a hat-trick at the FIFA World Cup, according to Fox Sports. The Argentine legend opened his 2026 World Cup campaign with a brilliant hat-trick, leading Argentina to a 3-0 win over Algeria on Tuesday (local time). At 38 years and 357 days, Messi has become the oldest player in men's World Cup history to register both a brace and a hat-trick.