It was a night of records, numbers and football giants at the World Cup, beginning with Kylian Mbappe, continuing with Erling Haaland and ending with Lionel Messi reminding everyone that he still belongs in a league of his own.
France’s star-studded team overcame a slow start to beat Senegal 3-1, with Mbappe scoring twice and becoming Les Bleus’ all-time leading scorer. Haaland then delivered a double of his own in Norway’s 4-1 win over Iraq. But the night belonged to Messi, who opened Argentina’s title defense with a brilliant hat-trick in a 3-0 win over Algeria.
Group J: Argentina 3, Algeria 0 | The legend goes on
The reigning world champions played their first match of the 2026 World Cup overnight, and unlike their opening game in the previous tournament, this time Argentina began in style.
There had been plenty of questions over the form Messi would bring to the tournament. After carrying Argentina to the title in 2022, he is now older, turns 39 at the end of the month and has spent recent years playing in MLS, where the pace is significantly lower than in Europe.
The doubts lasted only 17 minutes.
Messi received the ball and sent a superb shot into the top corner, scoring his first goal of the 2026 World Cup and giving Argentina early control. Algeria shot at goal, held possession and fought hard, but the gap in quality eventually decided the match.
In the 60th minute, Alexis Mac Allister struck from outside the box. Algeria goalkeeper Luca Zidane, the son of Zinedine Zidane, reacted poorly and pushed the ball back into the middle of the area, straight to Messi, who was in the right place at the right time to place it into the corner for 2-0.
Sixteen minutes later, Messi struck again, drilling his third goal into the corner of Zidane’s net to complete a stunning hat-trick and seal Argentina’s opening victory.
Group I: France 3, Senegal 1 | France has a new king
After facing heavy criticism during the season, Mbappe arrived at the 2026 World Cup determined to remind everyone who the biggest star on the international stage can be.
France struggled in the first half, failing to create clear chances and looking stuck, while Senegal pressed well and came close to scoring. But as France grew into the match, its depth and quality took over.
In the 66th minute, Michael Olise slipped a brilliant pass to Mbappe, cutting through the Senegal defense and leaving the forward one-on-one with Edouard Mendy. Mbappe finished with a fine turn and strike to give France the lead.
In the 82nd minute, Ousmane Dembele, who had endured a weak performance, was replaced by Bradley Barcola. With his first touch, Barcola scored after making a sharp run behind the defense and receiving a perfect pass from Adrien Rabiot, making it 2-0 and showing once again the extraordinary depth in the French squad.
France’s bench offered further evidence of that depth when a player of Rayan Cherki’s quality, who would likely start for many teams in the tournament, only came on in the 87th minute in place of Desire Doue.
In stoppage time, Amara Diouf pulled one back for Senegal with an excellent individual move. But a minute later, Mbappe lifted his leg from about 25 meters and sent the ball into the top corner with the best goal of the tournament so far, setting the final score at 3-1 and completing a dream opening match.
That goal also made Mbappe France’s all-time leading scorer with 58 goals, moving him past Olivier Giroud. He is now only three goals away from overtaking Germany’s Miroslav Klose and Messi, the all-time World Cup scoring leaders with 16.
Group I: Norway 4, Iraq 1 | Haaland does what Haaland does
After 28 years away from the World Cup, Norway returned to the biggest stage with an impressive 4-1 win over Iraq. But anyone who expected an easy stroll was quickly corrected.
Iraq, back in the tournament for the first time since 1986, played brave football and made life difficult for the Scandinavians for long stretches before Norway’s quality eventually told.
Haaland was, of course, the star of the evening. The Manchester City striker scored his first World Cup goal in the 29th minute, but Iraq came back 10 minutes later through a header by Aymen Hussein.
Just as Iraq began to enjoy its best spell, the turning point arrived. A serious mistake by goalkeeper Jalal Hassan allowed Haaland to complete his brace before halftime and restore Norway’s lead.
In the second half, Leo Ostigard added a third with a header from an excellent Martin Odegaard corner, despite the Arsenal midfielder not being at his best. A late own goal by Hussein set the final score.
Despite the result, Iraq can take encouragement from its performance. Graham Arnold’s side created chances, hit the post and forced Norway to work much harder than the scoreboard suggests.
Norway, however, got exactly what it wanted: three points and a perfect start before its matches against Senegal and France.
Legend: Messi’s hat-trick by the numbers
Messi’s three goals moved him level with Miroslav Klose at the top of the all-time World Cup scoring chart with 16 goals.
He did it in exactly his 200th appearance for Argentina, 20 years to the day after making his first national team appearance on June 16, 2006. He is the first player in history to appear in six World Cups and the second to score in five, joining Cristiano Ronaldo. He did not score at the 2010 World Cup.
The hat-trick was also Messi’s first ever at a World Cup, and made him the oldest player in tournament history to score three goals in a match. He turns 39 at the end of the month.
And if that was not enough, Messi also broke the record for goals scored from outside the box in World Cup history, reaching six after scoring twice from distance overnight.