Ramy Bensebaini and Algeria were blown away by a sensational Lionel Messi hat-trick on Wednesday as Argentina beat them 3-0 in their Group J encounter at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Coming into the tournament on the back of consecutive wins in their warmups games to Netherlands and Bolivia, the Desert Warriors were touted to give the world champions a tough run.
However, some remarkable individual brilliance from Inter Miami star Messi meant that the north African giants succumbed to a heavy 3-0 loss in the opening clash of the tournament.
Bensebaini didn't play either of their pre-tournament friendlies as he continued his recovery from an ankle injury that had seen him miss Borussia Dortmund's last three Bundesliga games of 2025-26 season.
But the centre-back was given the green light here and head coach Vladimir Petkovic brought Bensebaini back into their starting XI, hoping he'd be crucial in keeping Messi quiet.
The Argentine star though, was in an inspired form at the Kansas City Stadium and turned up the screws on Algeria with a breathtaking treble.
As for Bensebaini's performance, the BVB star had a good game apart from Messi. He was positionally aware and crucial to building up from the back.
In fact, the 31-year-old completed 89 of his 95 passes and a significant chunk of it came in the opposition half, underlining how effectively he progressed play through the lines.
Bensebaini also finished with eight defensive contributions: three interceptions and clearances each while also jumping into two tackles.
Winning all four of his ground duels, he imposed himself physically and gave his direct opponents little joy throughout the contest.
But like the rest of the Algerian squad, he had no answer to Messi's pace, ball control and devastating linkups as the 38-year-old ran the side into the ground single-handedly.
He opened Argentina's account for the evening with a stunning long-range effort after 17 minutes which remained the only goal of the match in the opening stanza.
At the hour mark, Messi made it 2-0 by pouncing on a loose ball from just 10 meters out after Algerian 'keeper Luca Zidane parried a shot right into his path.
Buoyed to net his first ever World Cup hat-trick, the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner kept finding gaps in the Algerian defense with his mazy runs and electric dribbling ability.
He nearly bagged it minutes after scoring their second but Zidane parried it over in a lovely piece of goalkeeping, but there was no denying Messi in the 76th minute.
Coming into possession at the edge of the box, he slammed a low effort into the bottom corner beyond Zidane's dispairing dive for 3-0 and his maiden hat-trick at the tournament.
Bensebaini and Algeria will be hoping for better luck in their match against FIFA World Cup debutants Jordan on Monday, 23 June as they hope to avoid an early elimination.
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