The World Cup’s top forwards were all on display last night as Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland both scored braces in their countries’ respective victories against Austria, Iraq and Senegal. Messi’s individual brilliance carried Argentina, the defending champions to a relatively comfortable 2-0 win, securing their spot at the top of Group J, and as it stands, set up a fierce Round of 32 tie against South American rivals Uruguay on the 3rd of July. Messi’s goals came at crucial points in the game; the first time he struck the back of the net probably should’ve been the second, as he missed a penalty within the first ten minutes of the game. All was well however for Lionel Scaloni’s team as they got over the line, meaning they can now rest before their final group game against Jordan in the early hours of Sunday morning.
France’s game against Iraq was the first game impacted by weather delays at this tournament; lightning strikes saw the game postponed for over two hours in Philadelphia, but the 2018 champions didn’t face too many problems against Iraq, as Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele both got on the scoresheet, meaning that Didier Deschamps’ team will make the knockout stages of the tournament, however their fate of how they go through, as group winners or not, will be decided whenever they play Norway, who also won last night against Senegal 3-2, this coming Friday at 8pm. Speaking after the game, Deschamps spoke about how he was “having a good time with my players and having fun” in relation to the weather delay. Adding to that topic, the outgoing France manager noted that
It's a question of safety. You cannot fight against the rain and lightning.
In the evening’s other game, Jordan are out of the tournament after Algeria scored two goals in the second half to offset the debutants taking the lead, as former Manchester City and Leicester winger Riyad Mahrez grabbed an assist to begin the comeback. Algeria keep their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages alive, but they will need at least a point in their final group game to do so. Tonight, England will face Ghana in their second game of the tournament, as Thomas Partey returns to the Ghana team. He’s been given permission to travel to the United States, despite the fact he was barred from Canada due to historic rape and sexual assault allegations in the United Kingdom. Tuchel’s men will be looking to seal their berth in the last 32, where as it stands, they’ll play Portugal, who play before them this evening at 6pm against Uzbekistan. Croatia will look to get their first victory of the tournament after defeat to England against Panama at midnight, and Colombia play the Democratic Republic of the Congo at 3am; the Congo are looking to build on their historic draw against Portugal last week.
Luke Watson will be keeping us up to date on World Cup 2026
