Two future GOATs and THE GOAT took the stage Tuesday, as Mbappé, Haaland and Messi all delivered on the grandest stage in football.
Sorry that there are no day four and five recaps. I’ve been busy with some stuff, including celebrating my birthday on Sunday, but we’re back at it.
Mbappé leads France past Senegal
Frances’ journey of making it back to the World Cup final kicked off with a bang, edging out Senegal 3-1 to kick off Group I.
The first half, however, was not the start Les Bleus wanted, as the team, especially the attack, seemed out of sync. This meant they had only one shot the entire half, while Senegal got in five (two on target) and were the more threatening team leading into the break.
But once the second half came, France showed everyone why they are the favorites of the tournament, showing better composure when they had the ball. And it led to them taking the lead in the 66th minute, when Michael Olise played a sublime pass to Mbappé making a run towards the Senegalese six-yard box, before sliding it past Edouard Mendy with the first touch into the bottom-left corner to break the deadlock.
France extended its lead in the 82nd minute when Adrien Rabiot played a pass that split Senegal’s defense to Bradley Barcola, who drifted in from the left to the right side of the pitch, before chipping his shot over Mendy and into the goal.
But Senegal was not out of it yet, as substitute Ibrahim Mbaye drifted in from the right, crossed up defender Théo Hernandez, and unleashed a powerful strike that deflected off the gloves of Mike Maignan and into the net to cut the deficit to one in the 90+5th minute.
But Mbappé would put the game to rest for good this time, unleashing a powerful outside-the-box strike from 30 yards that hit the top left corner to seal the deal in the 90+6th minute, becoming France’s all-time leading goal scorer in the process.
Haaland makes his presence known
In his first-ever World Cup appearance, Erling Haaland showed the world who he truly is, bagging in two goals as Norway thrashed Iraq 4-1 to go top of Group I.
His first goal in the 29th minute was a classic poacher’s goal, with full-back David Møller Wolfe driving toward Iraq’s byline before squaring his pass across the goal, where Haaland slid in for a tap-in at the back post.
After Iraq tied in the 39th minute off a towering header from striker Ayman Hussein, the Norwegians took back the lead four minutes later when Iraqi goalkeeper Jalal Hassan tried to play the ball out from the back, but got closed down by Haaland, who forced the ball into the back of the net.
Norway was essentially in cruise control in the second half, as the Iraqi’s failed to follow up on their first-half performance. The Norwegians added two more goals, a 76th-minute header from Leo Østigård and an own goal from Hussein in the 90+6th minute, to kick off The Vikings‘ first World Cup appearance since 1998 in style.
Messi produces magic once more
In what is surely his last appearance on the biggest sporting event in history, Lionel showed that age is just a number, producing his first-ever hat trick on the World Cup stage in a 3-0 thumping of Algeria to open up Group J.
With an edge-of-the-box screamer in the 17th minute, a tap-in in the 60th minute and a curler in the 76th minute, Messi became the oldest player to record a World Cup hat-trick at 38 years old, breaking Cristiano Ronaldo’s record of 33 years old in 2018. He also became the oldest player to score multiple goals in a World Cup game since Roger Milla at the 1990 edition in Italy, also at 38 years old.
Messi now sits at 16 World Cup goals, tying Miroslav Klose’s record for most goals scored in the tournament’s history, and is looking to add more to his name as the tournament progresses.
His 2ooth appearnce for the national team is one for the ages, and if this is indeed his last dance, it’s going well.
Austria edges out debutants Jordan
It wasn’t a convincing performance, but Austria did just enough to squeeze a 3-1 victory past Jordan, who continued the trend of World Cup debutants impressing in 2026.
The Austrians took the lead in the 21st minute thanks to an edge-of-the-box strike from winger Romano Schmid that went inside the top right corner that Jordanian goalkeeper Yazeed Abulaila could only watch go past him.
But Jordan remained competitive throughout, and their efforts paid off in the 50th minute, when midfielder Ali Iyad Olwan received the ball near the midfield and carried it all the way towards Austria’s penalty box, before finding an angle and hitting his shot past Austrian goalkeeper Alexander Schlager off the right post and into the net to equalize and give Jordan their first-ever World Cup goal.
But two crucial mistakes would lead to Jordan’s undoing. In the 76th minute, Austrian midfielder Marcel Sabitzer launched a corner kick intended for fellow striker Marko Arnautovic, but the ball deflected off Jordanian center back Yazab Abu Al-Arab’s own back and into his own net. And in the 90+12th minute, a handball inside Jordan’s penalty area by Saleem Obaid led to a penalty for Austria, where Arnautovic placed it past Abulaila to give the Austrians all three points.
