Lautaro involved in Argentina's winning start

It was Lionel Messi's night in Albiceleste. The reigning world champions began their World Cup campaign in North America with a commanding 3-0 victory over Algeria in their opening Group J fixture, inspired by a masterclass from their iconic captain. At Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium, Lautaro Martínez was also included in Lionel Scaloni's starting XI and played his part in Argentina's convincing performance.

The match burst into life almost immediately. After just five minutes, Lautaro produced a perfectly weighted pass for Messi, who beat Luca Zidane and found the net, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside. Algeria thought they had responded three minutes later through Chaïbi, but that effort too was disallowed. From that point on, however, the evening belonged entirely to Messi. Celebrating the twentieth anniversary of his first World Cup appearance, the Argentine No.10 delivered yet another unforgettable performance on football's biggest stage. He opened the scoring in the 17th minute with a superb left-footed strike from distance before doubling Argentina's advantage early in the second half, reacting quickest after Luca Zidane could only parry an effort from Mac Allister. Messi completed his hat-trick in the 76th minute, collecting a pass from Nico González on the edge of the area before curling a trademark left-footed finish into the bottom corner. It was a historic night for the Argentine legend. On his 200th appearance for Argentina, Messi's three goals took him to 16 World Cup goals, drawing level with Miroslav Klose at the top of the tournament's all-time scoring charts. In the process, he moved ahead of Gerd Müller (14), Kylian Mbappé (14) and Ronaldo (15). Amid the Messi showcase, Lautaro also produced an encouraging display. The Inter captain worked tirelessly for the team, linked play intelligently and came close to scoring himself with a low angled effort that was well saved by Zidane shortly before being replaced by Julián Álvarez in the 55th minute.

The victory gave Argentina the perfect start to their World Cup campaign and leaves the Albiceleste top of Group J on three points, level with Austria, who defeated Jordan 3-1 in Santa Clara.

ARGENTINA'S GROUP FIXTURES

• Argentina vs Austria, Monday 22 June, 19:00 CEST | World Cup Group Stage | Arlington

• Jordan vs Argentina, Sunday 28 June, 04:00 CEST | World Cup Group Stage | Arlington