Lionel Messi already held numerous World Cup records. There was perhaps one minor unfulfilled wish, which has now been realized; at the age of 38, Messi scored his first-ever World Cup hat-trick. Many are curious: who else had scored a hat-trick for Argentina in the World Cup before him?

Before Messi, there had been four hat-tricks for Argentina in World Cup history. Guillermo Stábile achieved the feat in the very first World Cup. Gabriel Batistuta accomplished it twice, and Gonzalo Higuaín was the last to do so.

Stábile’s hat-trick occurred during the 1930 World Cup, in Argentina’s second match against Mexico. He had not played in the opening match against France; his debut came against Mexico. He might not have played that match either, had the regular striker, Roberto Cherro, not decided to sit out due to mental stress.

Seizing the opportunity, Stábile made the most of his debut, scoring a hat-trick in Argentina’s 6–3 victory. Interestingly, for a long time, this was considered the first hat-trick in World Cup history. However, in 2006, FIFA confirmed that the USA’s Bert Patenaude had actually scored a hat-trick against Paraguay earlier in that same tournament.

Argentina then had to wait 54 years for another hat-trick. Gabriel Batistuta scored one against Greece in the 1994 World Cup, netting goals in the 2nd, 44th, and 90th minutes. That match is memorable for another reason as well: Diego Maradona scored the other goal in Argentina’s 4–0 win. It was Maradona’s only goal of that tournament. Subsequently, he was banned after failing a drug test, and Argentina was eliminated in the second round after losing to Romania.

Four years later, Batistuta scored yet another hat-trick. He then scored a hat-trick against Jamaica between the 72nd and 82nd minutes of the match. To date, Batistuta remains the only footballer to have scored hat-tricks in two different World Cups. However, Argentina was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the 1998 World Cup after losing to the Netherlands.

Later, in the 2010 World Cup, Gonzalo Higuaín scored a hat-trick against South Korea, netting goals in the 33rd, 76th, and 80th minutes. Under Diego Maradona’s leadership, however, Argentina did not progress very far on that occasion either, bowing out in the quarter-finals after a defeat to Germany.
Sixteen years later, Lionel Messi has revived those memories.

Sixteen years later, Lionel Messi has brought back those memories. In total, Argentina has recorded five hat-tricks in the World Cup. Only Germany, as a team, has achieved more—with six hat-tricks.

There is a common thread among the four previous hat-tricks involving Messi: Argentina failed to become champions on every occasion. Reaching the final in the first of those World Cups marked their greatest success. Will this time be any different?