As expected, football elite finishers, Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe are already setting alight the stage at the ongoing World Cup by getting off the mark in the Golden Boot race at the tournament being co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Record Breaker Messi In Flying Start
For the Argentine Captain, Messi, he made history by equalling the all-time World Cup goals scored record with hat trick in an emphatic title defence opener against Desert Warriors of Algeria.
Though the South Americans started their World Cup title defence in a nervy fashion, Messi reminded all 69,045 at Kansas City Stadium that he, in fact, still remains the GOAT.
The 38-year-old announced his arrival at the 2026 World Cup with a stunning rocket and then proceeded to add two more goals to give Argentina a 3-0 win over the North Africans and also put himself on the record books.
Messi is now tied on all-time World Cup goals with Miroslav Klose with 16 goals, though the German remains in the lead due to less matches played.
It was a nervy opening 15 minutes for Argentina. Ironically, it wasn’t the first time Messi finished past Algeria goalkeeper Luca Zidane, but Argentina’s largely well-executed counterattack was wiped away in the fifth minute after a poorly timed pass from Lautaro Martinez left him offside. Moments later, Algeria nearly made Argentina pay.
Net Ripper Haaland On Prowl
Living up to his pure finisher’s instinct, Erling Haaland was the predictable protagonist as Norway roared to a crucial 4-1 victory over Iraq in their first World Cup match since 1998 on Tuesday.
The Manchester City striker’s first-half brace proved to be decisive, helping to ensure the dark horses made a winning start in Boston in the so-called ‘Group of Death’.
The Scandinavians made an understandably shaky start on their return to the World Cup stage after a 28-year absence, but the City goal machine settled the nerves, stretching to turn home a cross at the back post just shy of the half-hour mark.
Inevitably, the goal machine scored with his first shot on target at a World Cup and was rewarded for his hard pressing for his second. Though a quiet second half, he still had the job done.
Lethal King Mbappe Makes History For Les Bleus
Much-fancied France made hard work of it, but still got their World Cup campaign off to a winning start as they secured a 3-1 victory over Teranga Lions of Senegal in Group I.
After a dire first-half display, Les Bleus were transformed, with Kylian Mbappe, who had been particularly poor, delivering a brace either side of Bradley Barcola’s fine finish to become his country’s record goal-scorer.
In a game of two halves, Mbappe was loose on the ball in the first period and lucky not to be punished. However, he got his vengeance with a cool finish after being denied a penalty and capped his turnaround with a screamer. Now France’s all-time top scorer.
With the brace, Mbappé officially became France’s men’s all-time leading goalscorer, taking his tally to 58 international goals. He has surpassed Olivier Giroud’s previous record of 57 goals, achieving the 58-goal mark in just 99 international appearances.
For his World Cup tally, the Real Madrid forward’s double against Senegal also brought career hits to 14 goals, surpassing French legend Just Fontaine. He currently sits just two goals behind Germany’s Miroslav Klose and Argentina’s Messi, (16 goals) on the all-time tournament leaderboard.
