Well, what did we tell you? Yesterday’s slate of World Cup games certainly did not disappoint! Lionel Messi broke the record for all-time World Cup goals, men or women. Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland scored two goals apiece in entertaining games for France and Norway, respectively.
Not every team has played two games yet, and the race for the Golden Boot, awarded to the tournament’s top scorer, is already heating up. There are more great games on today, and our NBC News crew is live-blogging all the action, so come follow along!
World Cup Recap
Lionel Messi made us wait. But he got there soon enough. When Messi stepped up to take a ninth-minute penalty against Austria after a video review, it seemed inevitable that he would score a record-breaking 17th World Cup career goal. But Argentina’s talisman stroked it wide of the net.
It only meant that when his record goal did arrive, in the 38th minute, it felt all the sweeter. It was a well-struck first-time effort — with his left foot, of course — from the edge of the box from a Facundo Medina pullback. That gave Messi 17 World Cup goals, the most all-time for the men’s tournament, passing Germany’s Miroslav Klose.
During stoppage time in the second half, Messi added to his record, scoring his fifth goal of the tournament, to lead Argentina to a 2-0 win against a limited Austrian side. Now Messi has 18 career World Cup goals and counting.
Hot on Messi’s heels is a Frenchman, Kylian Mbappé. In an intriguing subplot to this World Cup, the Real Madrid man moved into a tie with Klose for the second-most career World Cup goals, scoring his 15th and 16th strikes in France’s 3-0 win against Iraq that started at 5 p.m. local time but finished more than three and a half hours later amid heavy rain and a threat of thunderstorms.
Whether Mbappé overtakes Messi in this competition will depend on how far each side progresses. Both sides have two wins out of two games and are into the knockout stages. But Mbappé is 27, and injury permitting, surely has another World Cup in him. Messi turns 39 tomorrow.
Norway’s prolific Erling Haaland, 25, is in his first World Cup but has already scored four goals — two in his opener and two yesterday in an entertaining 3-2 win against Senegal. If Norway goes deep into the tournament, the Manchester City striker could challenge Messi and Mbappé for this year’s Golden Boot.
World Cup Preview
Speaking of greats, Cristiano Ronaldo will be back in action at 1 p.m ET when Portugal takes on Uzbekistan. He is goalless in his last 10 games for the national side at major tournaments. So will Ronaldo start? The same question was being asked in Qatar four years ago of Portugal’s coach; only this time around, the man in charge is Roberto Martinez, not Fernando Santos.
While not specifically referring to Ronaldo, Martínez said earlier this week that some of the criticism his side received after its 1-1 draw against the Democratic Republic of the Congo is “unfair, it’s unjust.”
England is also looking to secure its spot in its knockout, having romped to a 4-2 win against Croatia in their opener. Beating Ghana today would send England through to the next round. But it’s the same equation for Ghana, which labored to a 1-0 win against Panama in its first game of the tournament.
What We’re Watching
World Cup! All the games are on Telemundo and Peacock, and all times are Eastern:
- 1 p.m.: Portugal vs Uzbekistan
- 4 p.m.: England vs. Ghana
- 7 p.m.: Panama vs. Croatia
- 10 p.m.: Colombia vs. DR Congo
That’s it for now! We’ll be back tomorrow.
