Football's greatest showman shows Mbappé and Haaland who's boss
Here comes the Messi-ah
The GWC has barely had time to unpack its suitcase and already the goals are flying in like overenthusiastic airline baggage. Stadiums are full, scoreboards are busy and, most importantly, football's three marquee attractions decided that now would be a good time to remind everyone why they dominate highlight reels, sponsorship campaigns and social media algorithms.
First up, Kylian Mbappé. France's resident cheat code arrived in New Jersey with a mission and left with a place in the history books. Senegal did a respectable job of standing in his way until Mbappé remembered who he actually is. A low finish broke the deadlock before a thunderous long-range effort in stoppage time effectively put a bow on proceedings and a crown on his head.
A 3-1 win for France, 58 international goals for Mbappé and a new national scoring record. We would apologise to the previous record holder, Olivier Giroud, but he did not seem that fussed. "Congratulations Kylian," Giroud tooted on BBC One, where he is working as a not-so-great pundit. "I'm happy for him. It makes sense, it was expected. He will beat every single record – the number of caps and goals."
Mbappé's goals for France have come in just 99 appearances and his double against Senegal moved him to 14 World Cup goals, leaving Miroslav Klose's all-time record of 16 looking less like a countdown.
"I think he can easily reach 100 goals and maybe [beat] Miroslav Klose's World Cup record," predicted Giroud. "He's delivered great performances in World Cups and big games."
On to Norway's Erling Haaland. Big Cup debut? Hat-trick. Bundesliga debut? Hat-trick. Premier League debut? Two goals. GWC debut? Naturally, two goals in a 4-1 win over Iraq.
The Norway manager, Ståle Solbakken, certainly was not surprised. "You can see he lived up to the occasion – it wasn't too big for him. I had a good feeling before the game, the last training session was very good. I had a feeling he would do it for us today."
Yet for all the brilliance of Mbappé and Haaland, football's greatest showman was not about to accept third billing. Hours after the younger generation had dazzled, Lionel Messi wandered on to the stage and reminded us sequels rarely outperform the original.
A first World Cup hat-trick. A record-equalling 16th World Cup goal. Another entry in the ever-expanding folder labelled "proof he still has it". Argentina beat Algeria 3-0 and Messi was involved in absolutely everything that mattered, including a raking challenge on Aissa Mandi that surely would have been a red card for mere mortals. Perhaps not inconsequentially, Gianni Infantino was in Kansas, watching on through misty eyes.
As the sun dipped behind the Kansas City skyline, the 38-year-old became the first player in history to appear at six World Cups, beating his old rival Cristiano Ronaldo to the landmark by a single day. Twenty years after making his World Cup debut as a teenager in Germany, and on his 200th international appearance, Messi looked a man casually ignoring the passage of time.
Afterwards, he cheered: "To enjoy this with my family, with my teammates, the ones who are always there, is a really beautiful moment. The squad, it's a very united, very strong group. I feel good; we were lucky enough to win a tough match. It's important to start off with a win in the first game.
"I'm grateful to the fans, because once again they've shown that Argentina is crazy about this – we packed the stadium again. Everything I'm experiencing now is a bonus. I've been fortunate enough to achieve all my dreams – or even more than I ever dreamed of achieving – professionally and personally."
So then. Mbappé has broken more records. Haaland has continued his full-time hobby of terrorising defenders. And Messi has once again bent time and logic to his will.
Ronaldo and Harry Kane, over to you.
