Lionel Messi proved that age is just a mere suggestion as his dazzling performance saw defending World Cup champions Argentina blow Algeria away in the early hours pf this morning by 3 goals to nil. Lionel Scaloni’s side, who won the last tournament in Qatar in December 2022, got off to the perfect start as Inter Miami’s Messi put three goals past the helpless Algerian goalkeeper, Luca Zidane; Zinedine is his father, as Argentina claimed all three points from their opening Group J encounter in Kansas City. 20 years to the day from when he made his World Cup debut for Argentina against Serbia, in a game he scored in no less, the Argentine superstar has proved to the world yet again that even though he may not be at the peak of his footballing power, he still has what it takes to turn a game in his side’s favour. Messi is now the World Cup’s joint highest top scorer, alongside Germany’s Miroslav Klose, with 16 goals scored at the prestigious tournament.
Elsewhere last night, Kylian Mbappe put aside a poor first half to fire France to a 3-1 win over Senegal. The French captain, who struggled in the first 45, turned on the style after the interval, and secured a win for Les Bleus which puts them in a very comfortable position in Group I, in what the French hope will be a campaign in which they regain the World Cup from Argentina. In the other fixture in that group, Manchester City’s Erling Haaland scored two on World Cup debut as his Norway side swept aside Iraq 4-1, and Austria beat World Cup newcomers Jordan 3-1 in Group J’s second game.
Tonight, Portugal join the party as Cristiano Ronaldo seeks the World Cup in his final chance to obtain it; they play the Democratic Republic of the Congo at 6pm from Houston, and at 9pm, Thomas Tuchel’s England get their campaign underway in a repeat of the 2018 World Cup semi-final against fellow European side Croatia. Tuchel’s men have been dealt a blow already as Newcastle United full-back Tino Livramento is out of the tournament with a hamstring injury; Chelsea’s Trevoh Chalobah has been drafted to replace him, and he’ll meet up with the squad after their opening game tonight. The two other matches tonight feature Ghana playing Panama at midnight, and Uzbekistan will go up against Colombia from 3am, a game former Liverpool, now Bayern Munich winger Luis Diaz will be eager to impress in, as Colombia look to go further than the Round of 16, after not making the tournament in 2022.
Luke Watson will be keeping us up to date on World Cup 2026
