Lamine Yamal insisted that there is no such thing as a higher participant on the planet than Lionel Messi following his hat-trick heroics in Argentina’s World Cup opener in opposition to Algeria.
Messi helped Argentina kickstart their World Cup title defence with a bang after he stole the present of their 3-0 victory at Kansas Metropolis Stadium on Wednesday.
The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner’s treble took him to 16 profession targets within the World Cup, equalling Miroslav Klose because the all-time main scorer in competitors historical past.
He’s additionally the oldest participant to attain greater than as soon as in a World Cup match, aged 38 years and 357 days, surpassing Roger Milla’s earlier report of 38 years and 34 days.
Messi is just the second participant to attain in 5 completely different World Cups, after Cristiano Ronaldo, although Yamal stated there was no debate about who’s the best participant of all time.
“Each match proves he is the most effective in historical past. If anybody has doubts, it is as a result of they’re searching for them,” Yamal advised RTVE.
“There’s nothing extra to say. My idol is Neymar, however Messi is the most effective.”
16 – Lionel Messi logra su hat-trick ante Argelia e iguala a Miroslav Klose como el jugador con más goles en Copas del Mundo.
Inigualable. pic.twitter.com/bJ9PhDwlsG
— OptaJavier (@OptaJavier) June 17, 2026
Yamal was solely match sufficient to play 19 minutes of Spain’s shock 0-0 draw with World Cup debutants Cape Verde of their opening Group H conflict on Monday.
The 19-year-old watched on as his group struggled within the remaining third, whereas additionally watching a few of the world’s finest gamers get their campaigns up and operating in North America.
Kylian Mbappe, Harry Kane and Erling Haaland all scored twice for his or her respective nations, although Yamal was not feeling the stress to match these round him.
“My type of play is completely different. I wish to get pleasure from myself, to win, I do not wish to rating 16 targets and get eradicated within the semi-finals. That is not what I am searching for,” Yamal added.
Spain have didn’t win any of their final 4 World Cup video games (D3 L1), their joint-worst winless streak within the competitors, and face Saudi Arabia at Atlanta Stadium subsequent.
Luis de la Fuente didn’t reveal whether or not Yamal would begin in opposition to Saudi Arabia, with the Barcelona attacker including that whereas he is match and able to go, he’s not prepared to finish a full 90 minutes.
“I am high quality, I am feeling good, however it’s too quickly, it is pointless; I am nonetheless settling in,” Yamal stated.
“It is not the correct time to play a full match but – however I can play for as many minutes because the supervisor desires.
“I wish to be on the pitch; on the finish of the day, even when you understand you may’t play for 90 minutes, you all the time wish to get on the market and assist the group.”
