Messi equals Klose and Mbappé passes Giroud on a record-heavy Tuesday

Some days the record books just take a beating. On Tuesday, Lionel Messi finally got the World Cup hat-trick that had dodged him for twenty years, Kylian Mbappé quietly became France’s all-time top scorer, and Erling Haaland turned up to his first World Cup and scored twice. Three openers, three names in the history books by the end of the night.

Messi finally gets his hat-trick

Twenty years to the day after he came off the bench as a teenager at Germany 2006, Messi scored three against Algeria in Kansas City (17’, 60’, 76’) in a 3-0 win. His first World Cup hat-trick, on his 200th Argentina cap, in a record sixth World Cup. It also drew him level with Miroslav Klose’s all-time mark of 16 goals at the finals. Not a bad way to spend an anniversary.

Mbappé does it without the drama

France made harder work of Senegal. They were second best for a long spell before Mbappé’s 66th-minute opener calmed everyone down. He added a second deep into stoppage time, Bradley Barcola got the other, and Ibrahim Mbaye’s 90th-minute reply made it 3-1. Somewhere in there Mbappé slipped past Olivier Giroud to top France’s all-time scoring list on 58, which for a 27-year-old is faintly ridiculous.

Haaland, finally at a World Cup

Then Norway, back at a World Cup for the first time since 1998. Haaland had never played at one; ninety minutes later he had two, in a 4-1 win over Iraq in Boston. One a tidy back-post finish, the other a gift from a keeper who dithered over a back pass. Leo Østigård headed a third and Iraq bundled in a late own goal for good measure.

Tuesday's tally: Messi level with Klose on 16 World Cup goals; Mbappé clear of Giroud on 58 for France.

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