Lionel Messi registered his first World Cup hat trick while moving into a tie for first on the tournament's career scoring list Tuesday night, sending defending champion Argentina to a dominant 3-0 victory over Algeria in its group-stage opener.

Team Algeria, which made Lawrence its home base and befriended the community, was knocked out of the tournament after losing 0-2 to Switzerland.

Controversy over alleged preferential refereeing toward Lionel Messi and Argentina is growing as the 2026 FIFA World Cup enters its final stretch, with Egypt an

Algeria and Austria knew that a pedestrian draw Saturday night would have sent both to the knockout round of the World Cup.

Algeria scored off two corner kicks in the second half to rally from an early deficit and defeat Jordan 2-1 on Monday to bolster its chances of advancing to the knockout round of the World Cup.

Lionel Messi scores three as Argentina beats Algeria, after Erling Haaland scored twice as Norway beat Iraq 4-1 in Boston and Kylian Mbappé's super strike sunk Senegal.