On a night when it seemed like young stars in their primes were laying down a statement of intent, a moment when the changing of the guard in world soccer seemed at hand, Lionel Messi sent a message in Kansas City.

To be the man, you’ve gotta beat the man.

And in this game, on this stage, in this sport, Messi is still The Man 20 years after he first stepped into the World Cup limelight.

Hours after France’s Kylian Mbappé passed him on the all-time World Cup goal-scoring list and Erling Haaland announced his arrival on the World Cup stage with two goals against Iraq, the narrative appeared set: The young guns (Mbappé is 27, Haaland is 25) were ready to assume the role of the biggest stars in world soccer from the comparatively ancient Messi, who turns 39 next week, and 41-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo, whose World Cup starts on Wednesday.

By the end of the night, Messi would once again pass Mbappé on that all-time scoring list. And then he’d keep going, scoring his first World Cup hat trick to move into a tie for first, joining Miroslav Klose with 16 goals across his World Cup career. He is also now, remarkably, Argentina’s youngest-ever World Cup goal scorer and it’s oldest-ever World Cup goal scorer.

When he was subbed off in the 79th minute, he received a standing ovation from the Arrowhead Stadium crowd – tens of thousands who had waited in horrid traffic lines ahead of the game in order to glimpse this man, this genius, play under the brightest lights in global sports.

It took all of six minutes for that waiting to pay off – even if it didn’t count.

Lautaro Martínez took a pass at the top of the box with his back to goal, controlling it off his chest down to his feet. On his left, slashing toward the box, was Messi and Martinez found him beautifully. As it has hundreds of times, that left foot from the Inter Miami star seemed to have the ball on a string as he cut toward the goal before he buried it into the back of the net.

Unfortunately, Messi was offside. If not, he’d have the goal-scoring record in the World Cup all to himself.

It only took a little more than 10 minutes for Messi to put one in the net that counted, and it was an absolute screamer that is going to be on this tournament’s highlight reel.

Receiving a through ball through the middle of the pitch, Messi dribbled toward the box, took one step to his left as five – FIVE – Algerian defenders closed in, and let it rip. The 20-yard screamer deflected off keeper Luca Zidane’s fingertips and bulged the back of the net.

It was classic. It was vintage. It was Messi magic.

His second, 15 minutes after halftime, showed the poacher side of the former Barcelona man.

  

Shooting from 30 yards outside the box, Alexis Mac Allister powered one straight at the Algerian goalkeeper. The shot was too strong and he couldn’t handle it; pouncing on the rebound was Messi. Played onside by a lollygagging Algerian defender, Messi easily sent the loose ball home and gave Argentina a 2-0 lead.

It was pragmatic. It was simple. It was the goal of an aging legend who plays with his mind as much as his legs these days.

The third was the byproduct of the first two. The Algerian defense seemed beaten, broken and demoralized by Messi and his teammates and wilted by the heat in Kansas City. As the Argentines moved forward again, Messi was strangely unmarked at the edge of the box. A pass from Nico González on the wing was a bit behind him, but the fatigued Algerians weren’t exactly rushing to close in.

Messi stuck a boot back, corralled the ball, took a half-turn and fired a laser low and into the corner of the net past Zidane. The keeper could do nothing but flail and then turn and scream in frustration at his defense’s failings at the crucial moment.

It was checkmate. It was the final nail. It was emphatic.

Given the displays earlier in the day from Mbappé and Haaland, expectations were high for the Argentine maestro to meet their level.

The Frenchman’s brace put his full skillset on display – the first coming off a diagonal run through the box and a first-time shot that went to the left and rolled past Senegal keeper Eduard Mendy. His second showed the sublime skill Mbappé is capable of when he’s up for it, ripping a shot from 30 yards past a diving Mendy, a rocket of a goal that made it 3-1 in favor of the 2018 champions.

Haaland’s brace in his first World Cup match showed his potency in front of goal as well – tapping home a perfect cross as he slid toward the net to open the scoring and then showing the killer instincts to charge a lazy Iraqi back-pass, beating the keeper to the ball to score Norway’s second. The Norwegians would go on to win 4-1.

On a day that the stars came out at the World Cup, it was enough to make one think the changing of the guard had finally arrived. Messi and Ronaldo have dominated this sport for so long – both are playing in their sixth World Cups – that they have watched waves of players deemed next in line rise and fall.

Mbappé certainly appears to be the anointed successor to their lofty perches – at 27, he’s a World Cup winner, the central man of one of the biggest clubs in the world at Real Madrid, and seemingly destined to win scores of trophies and become this tournament’s highest scorer. Haaland can make a case that he’s the best pure striker in the world, a goal scorer’s goal scorer who has won almost everything in club football already.

They are stars who certainly shone bright. But when Messi trotted off the field with 11 minutes to play, subbed off to the screams of the adoring crowd in Kansas City, he proved that players like Mbappé, Haaland and others in the tournament may be stars but he remains the Sun around which soccer still orbits.