Argentina3–0Algeria

Algeria thought they had the lead inside 8 minutes when Chaïbi buried one, only for VAR to chalk it off — and that review flipped the whole night. Messi made them pay almost immediately, curling a left-footed strike into the top corner in the 17th off a De Paul assist. He doubled it just after the hour with a poked finish from the center of the box, then completed the hat-trick in the 76th, set up by Nico González. Luca Zidane kept the scoreline from getting uglier, saving shots from Martínez, Mac Allister and a second Messi effort, but there was no stopping the captain on this one. With the result long decided, Argentina rotated heavily down the stretch and Algeria's late subs couldn't find a way back.