By Ed White
LOS ANGELES, June 16 (Reuters) – Superstars shone in Tuesday’s World Cup matches, with soccer greats Lionel Messi of Argentina, Norway’s Erling Haaland and Frenchman Kylian Mbappe scoring for fun.
From Messi’s hat-trick against Algeria, Haaland’s double versus Iraq and Mbappe’s brace against Senegal, Tuesday’s matches offered some succour to those backing the favourites.
These were not obvious developments.
Messi is in the twilight of his career after moving to Major League Soccer in 2023, Haaland lost form in the middle of the Premier League season, and Mbappe suffered a dip in the second half of his La Liga campaign.
None of that applied on Tuesday, with all three players taking their chances to find the net.
Mbappe saved France from a subpar performance with his second-half strikes against Senegal, who were often the more dynamic before his first goal in the last third of the match.
His second, which hurtled into the net, made him France’s all-time top scorer with 58, surpassing Olivier Giroud, as his side claimed a 3-1 win.
Haaland, a dominant presence in English football who had struggled to score in the middle of the season, showed his predatory instincts to help his team to a 4-1 victory.
But in the day’s penultimate match it was Messi who showed why he is considered by many to be the best player on the planet.
Despite being past his peak, with his 39th birthday coming up, he scored his first World Cup hat-trick in a 3-0 win.
Messi is now level with World Cup record scorer Miroslav Klose on 16 goals. His first at a finals was scored on this date 20 years ago, when he was 18.
On Wednesday, more scoring machines take to the pitch, with England’s Harry Kane and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo fronting their nations’ efforts to start the tournament with a win.
(Editing by Ken Ferris)
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