Lionel Messi Reveals Why he Cried After Scoring World Cup Goal

Lionel Messi secured his first-ever hat trick in a FIFA World Cup match in the 76th minute of Argentina‘s 3-0 win over Algeria on Tuesday night, and Stu Holden said on the FOX broadcast, “He’s from another planet.”

In strictly football terms, Messi is objectively extraterrestrial. After his brilliant hat trick, he’s now tied with Germany’s Miroslav Klose as the top men’s World Cup scorer in history at 16 all-time goals scored. He will assuredly break that record in the coming days.

But after he put away his first goal of the night, Messi reminded everyone that he is still deeply human.

He became visibly emotional. That could have been easily attributed to the fact that he’s 38 - one week away from turning 39 - and is still able to perform like the best footballer in the world. There were plenty of plausible reasons within the romance and theatre of a World Cup, Messi’s sixth. But Messi revealed the true reason after the win.

"I cried after the first goal, yes,” Messi said, per Fabrizio Romano and ESPN FC. “But it was something completely unrelated to football. I went through some difficult days, but I'm grateful to the entire delegation and my teammates because they were always by my side, giving me a lot of strength to help me get through it.”

Argentine journalist Eduardo Feinmann disclosed on Radio Mitre on Wednesday that Messi’s emotion “has to do with his father; his father is not in good health - for quite some time now, several months, since last year,” per The U.S. Sun.

Messi has not commented or confirmed any details pertaining to the health of his father, Jorge, who has been integral to his son’s ascension as the greatest footballer to ever live.

What we do know is Messi and Argentina are on a mission to become the first repeat men’s World Cup champions since Brazil in 1958 and 1962. They’ll next face Austria, winners against Jordan on Tuesday, in Group J play on Monday, June 22.

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This story was originally published June 17, 2026 at 5:20 PM.