00:00Algeria a dangerous challenger returning after 12 years outside the world cup finals
00:07take the field in kansas city
00:27an argentina team defined by its experience courtney six of the 11 starting today started the final in 2022
00:35yeah and i think for me enzo fernandez is going to be one of the most important players
00:39messi he's a wonderful footballer still but he is slowing down and that engine and that work
00:44rate from enzo fernandez is going to be vital for argentina and lionel messi appearance number 200
00:52for his country score of 117 goals overcoming muscle fatigue in his left hamstring available
01:00and starts for algeria only two of these 11 have ever featured in the world cup finals
01:07yeah for me it's about the fullbacks they'd love to get forward they'd love to add into the attack so
01:12they can push the argentinian fullbacks back as well and it means that the two defensive midfielders are
01:18going to sit in and add that solidity in the middle of the park because defensively the two center back
01:22pairing they're not that quick ben sablini was in question does start notably as the sun sets
01:30in missouri the heartland of the united states argentina and algeria begin their world cup
01:54as far as shabby opens the scoring and stunning fast
02:06so mazadana because of moments like this now is that offside it's tight we know it's going to be
02:14looked at but the ball through to shabby is absolutely immaculate and what's clever about
02:19this is he opens his hips up so i think he out foxes martinez and the fact that i think
02:24the
02:24goalkeeper thinks he's going to go across him and he doesn't he just shifts it into the near post
02:28the final decision to look at the monitor yeah offers assistance and both sides now by exquisitely
02:37small margins the sun going down with the humidity dropping off has made a huge difference
02:44messy flying forward
03:02after all these years of performing on the world stage absolutely not
03:08there's nothing that zidane in goal can do about this but it's textbook the way that he turns the
03:15pocket that he finds the drive forward and then the shot in the top corner yes i know it takes
03:21a
03:21little flick off the hands of zidane but it's just out of reach broken ring finger tested yeah
03:29now i would imagine so i mean everything that the doctors and the physios can do now in terms of
03:36obviously the strap-ins the injections and everything else it
03:40shouldn't cause him too much pain but the less he has to do the better that's always the case for
03:46a goalkeeper regardless and showing found there a bit of an elbow
03:54i'm sure that'll be looked at but i don't
04:01i'm sure that's it
04:06dynamic ball through midfield shady shakes the man shady
04:16draws out
04:18you with the argentinian plays just to open up that passing channel into shady
04:24not taking a high arm play on
04:29i see trudging into the attacking third slips it at martinez martinez swiped
04:36by zidane martinez does he need the extra touch that's in the build-up
04:41renzo fernandez with that extra touch
04:49drops it on a dime messi flicks it ahead gonzalez chasing swings the cross through over julian alvarez
04:55look at deflection high from range
05:05the second leading scorer in the history of potentially takes a deflection but let's start
05:12from the beginning wonderful touch by messi great ball out from the goalkeeper and it's about this follow-up
05:20from mccallister in all essence it's extremely poor by the goalkeeper
05:27slightest of deflections if that but in that position you need to push it out wide zidane
05:34you can't push it back into the area this will give us a better indication i don't think there's
05:39even a deflection on the ball and then messi right place at the right time following in
05:46and that'll be one of the easiest goals he ever scores in his career
05:53seems like a strange decision not to start him
05:57ball ahead could this be the moment
06:00zidane just enough to whisk away messi's effort toward a hat-trick
06:09and depaul
06:16there we go there we go unsurprising spectator
06:21tenardine zidane looks on luca french youth national team player and now you've experienced it all
06:27i've got the full package messi
06:33gonzalez back to messi messi
06:40his first world cup hat-trick and it's a record center
06:47in argentine lore and now tied with marislav close of most goals at the world cup
06:52well it's special a special moment for an incredibly special player
07:01the way that he strokes this home yes he's got power but it's so precise this is a pass into
07:07the net
07:09it's wonderful it is a moment of history and it is another record for leo messi
07:31a three-nothing win in their opener a dominant result over algeria
07:38they avoid the pitfall of 2022 and begin their title defense in style
07:52um
08:03um
Comments