Three goals from Lionel Messi, all before the 77th minute, settled Argentina's opening Group J fixture against Algeria at Arrowhead Stadium with a comfort that flattered neither the occasion nor the scoreline. The match turned on a single, suffocating truth: Algeria could keep the ball but could do nothing with it.
Messi needed just 17 minutes to open his account, finishing from a Rodrigo De Paul assist to make it 1-0. Algeria had arrived in Kansas City with a 4-3-3 designed to press and retain, and for long stretches they did precisely that, finishing with 52 per cent possession and 92 per cent pass accuracy. None of it created anything worth remembering. Their expected goals figure of 0.31 for the night tells the story plainly. Not a single one of their seven attempts hit Emiliano Martínez's goal.
Argentina, meanwhile, were content to let Algeria have the ball in safe areas. Scaloni's side pressed only when the moment demanded it, absorbed Algeria's neat triangles without alarm, and waited for the openings that Messi, in particular, would inevitably find. De Paul pulled the strings in midfield, and his assist for the opener was entirely characteristic: purposeful, direct, forward-thinking in a side that spent much of the first half content to sit in shape.
The second goal arrived on the hour and effectively ended whatever slim ambiguity had survived the interval. Messi converted again, this time without an assist registered, to make it 2-0. Algeria's structure, which had looked disciplined enough in the first half, began to loosen. Petkovic introduced Riyad Mahrez, Mohamed Amoura, and Houssem Aouar together just after the hour mark, and each played the final half hour, but the tactical changes arrived too late and against a side that had no intention of surrendering control.
The third goal came in the 76th minute, Messi completing his hat-trick after Nicolás González, on as a substitute, provided the assist. It was the kind of finish that passes without ceremony at this point in Messi's career: inevitable, unhurried, conclusive. He was substituted shortly afterwards, having spent 80 minutes on the pitch and left with three goals to his name.
Aïssa Mandi was Algeria's most composed performer across the 95 minutes, reading the game well at centre-back in a match that asked their defence to carry the team's dignity more than their attack could manage. Luca Zidane, the goalkeeper, made three saves, which was three more than his opposite number was required to produce. That arithmetic captures the night precisely.
Argentina's defensive platform was solid without needing to be tested severely. Cristian Romero and Lisandro Martínez were authoritative at centre-back, and Facundo Medina offered energy on the left. Gonzalo Montiel went off at half-time and was replaced by Nahuel Molina, who completed the second half without incident.
Enzo Fernández and Alexis Mac Allister controlled the midfield tempo efficiently, if without the licence to impose themselves as they might against stronger opposition. Thiago Almada, starting at left midfield, was replaced before the hour. Neither he nor Lautaro Martínez, also withdrawn at 55 minutes, had particularly distinguished themselves, though both contributed to an Argentine shape that gave Algeria's forwards no room to breathe.
Messi aside, this was a measured, professional performance by the world champions. Argentina did not need to be brilliant. They needed to be organised and clinical, and they were both. The concern, if there is one to manufacture from a 3-0 win, is that Algeria posed so little that the full quality of Argentina's attacking press was never really required.
For Algeria, the opening game offers hard lessons. The ball possession numbers are flattering to a side that never genuinely threatened, and Farès Chaïbi, tasked with creativity from the right forward position, found no way through across 95 minutes. There is talent in this squad. Against Argentina, however, it remained entirely theoretical.