"He is an Absolute Madman": Erling Haaland Bows Down to His Idol Lionel Messi Following Historic World Cup Hat-Trick

A great effort indeed needs to be put forward by the footballer to overshadow Haaland in the World Cup after such an electrifying performance from him. For Haaland himself, he wasn’t in the least disappointed at sharing the spotlight. He couldn’t have been.

After leading Norway to a resounding victory of 4-1 against Iraq in the opening match of the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualification tournament, the striker witnessed his idol, Lionel Messi, play his match in Kansas City against Algeria. Messi, at 38, bagged an incredible hat-trick against the North African country, bringing the tally of his goal scoring efforts in the World Cup on par with the record holder. For the young Norwegian star, who has established himself as one of the most lethal strikers, seeing Messi perform like this was simply amazing.

Although he himself is a very successful person, Haaland has always been open to show his sincere and pure admiration of La Pulga. After Argentina's victory with 3 goals, Haaland showed no restraint on the social media platform in praising the Argentinian legend.

"As I said, the madman! I don't even understand how he still manages it. Bow down to the greatest," wrote Haaland along with a photo of Messi celebrating his goal number three.

Asked by the reporters later about his post, Haaland replied, with tears in his eyes, "Being a forward in the World Cup, you have to understand how hard it can be for you to score even one goal. To manage three goals, at his age, when the whole world expects you to fail miserably? This is beyond understanding. He was doing this incredible thing ever since I was young, and today, he still teaches us all the lessons that life taught him. I have no choice but to bow down before such an idol."

However, Haaland was not the only world-famous star who stood impressed with Messi's outstanding performance. With this hat-trick, the player became the joint highest scorer of the history of the tournament with a record of 16 goals, which was originally held by the German footballing great Miroslav Klose.

Given the fact that the record belonging to one of his countrymen was tied, another famous German footballer Thomas Muller gave an insight into this incredible record too. Being well aware of what it takes to score consistently at the FIFA World Cup, Muller congratulated the captain of the Argentinian national team.

"Records were made to be broken, but it takes an alien to break the record of Miro," the German star said. "Big respect to Messi. A fierce competitor, never gets old."

We now live in an era where there is a passing of the torch. As we marvel at the meteoric rise of fearsome prospects such as Erling Haaland, whose feats will break records for decades to come, instances like the match between Argentina and Algeria show us that the old guard will not go down without a fight.

Sportscape feels that while it can be stated that Haaland is the heir apparent of football in years to come, his beautiful gesture to Messi should be taken as a testament to the fact that all great players were once fans of the man wearing the number 10 jersey.