Lionel Messi will celebrate his 39th birthday soon. He has a special gift in mind: a hat trick and a share in a historic World Cup record.

Messi entered the match trailing Kylian Mbappé of France in the all-time World Cup goals leaderboard. Earlier, Mbappé scored twice against Senegal. This followed Mbappé’s role in the memorable World Cup Final against Messi four years prior. Messi responded by scoring three goals against Algeria, marking a strong start for the defending champions.

Has Messi broken the World Cup goal record yet? The answer is no, but he has tied it. Germany’s Miroslav Klose held the record with 16 goals, set during the 2014 World Cup. He scored in the semifinals and won the final against Messi’s Argentina.

Now, 12 years later, Messi matches Klose’s 16 goals. This sets up a race between Messi and Mbappé for the rest of the tournament. Both are expected to score more goals during this summer’s World Cup in North America.

Messi aims to break the record with a 17th goal next Monday against Austria, just before his birthday. Meanwhile, Mbappé, with 14 goals, will face Iraq on the same day. He aims to equal or surpass Klose himself.