Soccer
Messi, Mbappe and Haaland announce arrival at World Cup
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Tuesday's day of World Cup matches saw three superstar strikers take centre stage.
Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland and Lionel Messi all scored in their opening World Cup matches, and kickstarting the race for the tournament's coveted Golden Boot.
It should not be a surprise that all three have got goals to their name, but with how the matches fell on the schedule, it became a case of 'anything you can do, I can do better'.
Mbappe sets the tone with Senegal double
First up was France's Mbappe, who, heading into the World Cup, was being subject to criticism about his ability to defend.
Against Senegal at the MetLife Stadium, Mbappe had a first half to forget. He offered very little as Senegal sniffed out any dangerous threat from the French and with the match scoreless at halftime, there was a real chance of Senegal inflicting the first major blow to France's World Cup dream.
The second half was a different story. France increased the intensity and Mbappe was finding himself frequently being played through on goal, with just timing, his touch and Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy stopping him from finding the back of the net.
This would only last so long, and Mbappe opened the scoring in the 66th minute. Michael Olise's threaded-through ball saw Mbappe appear suddenly in space and place his finish into the corner.
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With France scoring a second courtesy of Bradley Barcola, Les Bleus were cruising until Ibrahim Mbaye caused a brief scare in added time to make it 2-1.
Mbappe took Senegal's goal personally and produced one of the goals of the tournament so far, and scored a ridiculous long-range effort to make it 3-1.
With his arms outstretched in celebration, Mbappe had the thousands at the MetLife Stadium in the palm of his hand as he silenced the critics and prepares to take the World Cup by storm.
Haaland adds another career achievement to goal-filled resume
Following Mbappe's New Jersey magic, it was Haaland's turn as Norway kicked off their first World Cup campaign since 1998 against Iraq.
This Norway team has generated plenty of excitement, and a lot of it surrounds finally seeing Manchester City striker Erling Haaland grace the World Cup.
He wasted no time in doing so, and put Norway ahead with a trademark Haaland finish as he poked in David Moller Wolfe's cross at the far post, adding a World Cup goal to his near-endless list of achievements.
Iraq did level the score in the 39th minute, but Haaland made sure this Norway wobble did not last long, charging on to a loose backpass to the Iraq goalkeeper and putting Norway 2-1 ahead.
There is no doubt Haaland would have heard about Mbappe's exploits and wanted to better it.
Well, they are both now on the same goal tally for this World Cup, and Haaland presents a unique threat.
In addition to being a giant of a striker, he also has the pace and technical ability of someone like Mbappe, and it will now be interesting to see how he fares against Senegal and France in Norway's remaining group games.
What else is there to say about Messi
Just like any three-course meal, the dessert is the treat, and Messi certainly did treat the footballing world to a special performance against Algeria in Kansas City.
Appearing in a sixth World Cup, Messi scored a hat-trick in Argentina's 3-0 win, and every goal was a joy.
He opened the scoring in the 18th minute with a curling left-foot effort into the top right corner from 25 yards out. A moment of magic from one of football's greatest.
Argentina went 2-0 up in the 60th minute after Messi pounced after Luca Zidane parried an initial shot. It may not have been the most glamorous of finishes, but it moved him within one goal of becoming the joint-top scorer in World Cup history.
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Messi and Argentina's third came 16 minutes later, a shot slotted into the corner after being teed up by Nico Gonzalez, the perfect end to another Messi performance which saw him join Germany's Miroslav Klose as the top scorer in World Cup history.
This hat-trick from Messi was the perfect end to what had been an impressive showing from some of football's best strikers, but if there is one thing that has left a smile on the face of football fans across the globe, it's seeing Messi magic in full flow at the age of 38.
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