The latest
Messi opened Argentina’s World Cup campaign with a hat-trick against Algeria, leading the defending champions to a 3-0 win in Kansas City.
With those goals, Messi matched Germany’s Miroslav Klose at the top of the all-time World Cup scoring chart with 16 goals. After the match, holding the match ball, Messi said he was living “a beautiful moment” and feeling good.
Details
- Matchday six results: France beat Senegal 3-1, Norway beat Iraq 4-1, Argentina beat Algeria 3-0, and Austria beat Jordan 3-1.
- In other matches, Kylian Mbappe scored twice in France’s win over Senegal, including one goal in stoppage time. Erling Haaland also scored twice in his first World Cup appearance as Norway beat Iraq.
- Pitch conditions returned to focus after Didier Deschamps’ comments about MetLife Stadium. He said the surface was “different” because of the short grass and a hard layer underneath. Vinicius Junior had earlier complained about dry grass and a slower pace of play.
What’s next
The focus now is whether Messi can move clear as the World Cup’s all-time top scorer in the coming matches. Wednesday’s fixtures will complete the first round: Portugal vs DR Congo, England vs Croatia, Ghana vs Panama, and Uzbekistan vs Colombia.
