World Cup While You Were Sleeping: Messi equals scoring record, Haaland fires brace
Lionel Messi: “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 — both professionally and personally.” Pic: Charlotte Wilson/Getty Images
Lionel Messi equalled Miroslav Klose’s record of 16 World Cup goals with a hat-trick as Argentina began their title defence with a 3-0 win over Algeria in Kansas City.
Argentina had started their ultimately successful 2022 campaign with defeat to Saudi Arabia, but avoided any such upset on this occasion thanks to Messi’s first World Cup treble.
Messi’s second took him level with Brazil great Ronaldo on 15 goals across his six World Cup appearances.
He was denied in a one-on-one by Algeria goalkeeper Luca Zidane and had a penalty appeal turned down before joining Germany’s Klose in a share of the record.
The 38-year-old will have chances to move into the outright lead in Argentina’s remaining Group J games against Austria and Jordan next week – assuming France’s Kylian Mbappe, who is on 14 after a brace against Senegal, does not run riot against Iraq on Monday.
Messi thought he had opened the scoring after only five minutes, but was denied by a tight offside call after a composed finish into the bottom corner.
Four minutes later it was Algeria’s turn to be denied – this time after VAR overruled the original decision when Ibrahim Maza played in Fares Chaibi and he put a low effort past Emi Martinez.
It proved to be the only attempt on target a toothless Algeria side – which surprisingly saw Riyad Mahrez dropped to the bench – could muster all evening.
Messi opened the scoring after 17 minutes as he linked up with Inter Miami team-mate Rodrigo de Paul and fired a 20-yard effort into the roof of the net.
Chaibi wasted an excellent chance to equalise and, at the other end, Thiago Almada fired over before the break.
Lautaro Martinez shot straight at Algeria goalkeeper Zidane – the son of France World Cup winner Zinedine – who also saved well from Alexis Mac Allister on the hour mark, only for Messi to react quickest and turn in the rebound.
Mac Allister’s defence-splitting pass sent Messi clear after 66 minutes, but Zidane was equal to his effort and referee Szymon Marciniak waved away the Inter Miami forward’s penalty claims after Manchester City defender Rayan Ait-Nouri sent him tumbling in the box.
Messi’s moment did finally arrive in the 76th minute as he collected Nicolas Gonzalez’s pass and fired a low effort into the bottom corner.
Messi made way for Nico Paz a short time afterwards to a standing ovation from the Arrowhead Stadium crowd as Argentina comfortably saw out an opening win.
Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni said in quotes reported on fifa.com: “I don’t have the words to describe Messi. For 20 years, he’s had us used to seeing things like this and he inspires everyone who watches him play.”
Messi added: “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 — both professionally and personally.”
Algeria captain Aissa Mandi said: “What made the difference is that they have a player who is ruthless, almost every chance he gets ends up in the back of the net.
“He might be the best player of all time. His efficiency is formidable; we knew that. We tried to shut him down as much as possible, but it didn’t work – he was too good for us there.”
Austria claimed their first World Cup victory since 1990 with a 3-1 win against debutants Jordan.
Two late goals at the home of the San Francisco 49ers helped Ralf Rangnick’s side make the perfect start in Group J after Ali Olwan had equalised with Jordan’s first World Cup goal.
Jordan started brightly and Alexander Schlager needed to produce a good early save to deny Odeh Fakhoury, but it was Austria, playing at the World Cup for the first time since 1998, who opened the scoring in the 21st minute.
Romano Schmid picked up the ball on the edge of the penalty area, cut inside and sent an unstoppable shot into the top corner.
Jordan almost equalised immediately but Olwan headed against the bar from a corner, while Schlager then kept out another effort from the lively forward.
Olwan, Jordan’s top scorer in qualifying, was not to be denied five minutes after the break, though, taking advantage of the space he was allowed on the left to drive into the box and send a shot beyond Schlager.
Austria thought they had scored again in the 67th minute when Jordan keeper Yazeed Abulaila made a mess of a corner and Marko Arnautovic tucked the ball away but Stefan Posch was penalised for a handball following a lengthy VAR check.
However, Jordan did not learn their lesson and another corner in the 76th minute was headed into his own net by Yazan Al Arab before, deep in added time, Mohammad Abu Zraiq was deemed to have handled following a second VAR check and Arnautovic found the bottom corner from the penalty spot.
Erling Haaland scored his first World Cup goals with a brace as Norway started their campaign with a 4-1 win over Iraq in Boston.
Norway took the lead after 29 minutes as Sander Berge played David Moller Wolfe in on the left of the penalty area and his low cross was turned in at the back post by Haaland.
Moments later, the Manchester City striker almost turned provider after latching on to Antonio Nusa’s fine pass and feeding Alexander Sorloth, whose shot was well blocked, with Arsenal midfielder Martin Odegaard firing wide as Norway continued to dominate.
Iraq dealt a sucker-punch on the counter attack after 39 minutes. Ali Jasim played a clever reverse pass to Amir Al-Ammari and from his cross, Aymen Hussein planted a header low into the bottom corner.
Iraq were level for just four minutes as goalkeeper Jalal Hassan failed to deal with a weak back pass and only succeeded in launching his clearance against Haaland, with the ball ricocheting into the net.
Iraq almost drew level in first-half stoppage time as Ali Al Hamadi was played through one-on-one, only to see Kristoffer Ajer’s last-ditch block steer his effort narrowly wide, before Akam Hashim’s volley from the edge of the box flew narrowly over the bar.
After the break, Hussein headed wide and Hussein Ali fired over as Iraq threatened an equaliser, only for Leo Ostigard to rise highest and head in an Odegaard corner after 76 minutes to put the result beyond doubt.
Hassan denied Haaland his hat-trick with a good close-range save, but was powerless to prevent a fourth in stoppage-time as Hussein diverted the ball into his own net.
“My first goal was nice, the second even nicer so it’s fantastic and I’m proud of everyone that we could get off to a good start,” Haaland said.
“We know though that the next games will be even tougher and we will have to play even better.”
Iraq head coach Graham Arnold said in quotes broadcast on BBC: “I thought the boys did exceptionally well first half, a couple of mistakes hurt us badly.
“What a great occasion this has been for Iraq. So many fans here and a great atmosphere, so it’s a special night.”
Kylian Mbappe bagged a brace as France opened their World Cup campaign with a 3-1 win over Senegal in New Jersey.
Senegal almost broke the deadlock twice in the first half when Nicolas Jackson’s effort smashed off a post and Ismaila Sarr fired over the bar on the cusp of half-time.
However, France took charge after the break, with skipper Mbappe scoring in the 66th minute and substitute Bradley Barcola doubling their lead.
A chaotic stoppage-time period saw Ibrahim Mbaye pull one back for Senegal, but just one minute later Mbappe had the final say with a stunning long-range strike and surpassed Olivier Giroud to become France’s all-time goalscorer with 58 goals.
An appeal against the decision to deny Ghana’s Thomas Partey a Canadian visa for the World Cup has failed – with court documents revealing the initial visa application did not disclose the criminal charges he faces in the UK.
An application for a temporary resident visa (TRV) was made on May 21, but in answer to a question about whether Partey had ever committed, been arrested for, charged with, or convicted of any criminal offence in any country, the response provided was ‘No’.
The 33-year-old former Arsenal midfielder denies seven charges of rape and one count of sexual assault, relating to allegations by four different women between 2020 and 2022, and is due to stand trial next year.
A letter addressed to Partey from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) sent on May 25 set out concerns about whether his application had met the requirement to “answer truthfully”.
It also stated he may be inadmissible for a temporary resident visa under a section of legislation covering misrepresentation.
The federal court, in its ruling on Tuesday dismissing the motion, noted that the response to that letter and Partey’s affidavit to the court “fail to acknowledge, let alone explain why this material information was missing in his application”.
Documentation concerning the charges was sent to the IRCC by the Ghana Football Association on May 27. Ghana face Panama in Toronto on Wednesday but must now do so without Partey, before they take on England in Boston on June 23. Partey has been granted a United States visa.
The court found that the officer who denied Partey a visa had not erred in law by basing the decision to refuse on an unproven offence.
“Paragraph 36(1)(c) of the IRPA (Immigration and Refugee Protection Act), as distinct from 36(1)(b), does not require a conviction in order to find the Applicant inadmissible. Rather, simply having reasonable grounds to believe that an offence has been committed is sufficient,” wrote Judge Roger R. Lafreniere.
The Ghana FA has been contacted for comment.
France midfielder Adrien Rabiot raised concerns about the quality of the pitch at the New York/New Jersey stadium after their 3-1 win over Senegal on Tuesday, echoing Brazil forward Vinicius Jr's frustration with the dryness of the surface.
Rabiot, who bagged an assist in France's Group I opener, said the ground set to host the World Cup final in July felt less like a real pitch and more like an artificial surface.
"The pitch... I don't even know if you can call it that. It felt more like an artificial surface — quite hard and quite rigid," Rabiot told reporters.
Meanwhile, France coach Didier Deschamps called the pitch a "special surface" when asked about it in a press conference.
"I think there's probably concrete underneath, it's very short fibres," Deschamps said.
The pitch felt different from last year's FIFA Club World Cup, also played at the New York/New Jersey stadium, Deschamps added. "The bounce is a bit different," he said, adding that his side are adjusting to the conditions.
Brazil's Vinicius had also earlier voiced concerns about the dryness of the pitch after his side were held to a 1-1 draw by Morocco in the first match played at the stadium on Saturday.
"In the second half, with the heat, the pitch dries out very quickly. The game becomes very sluggish and we can't get into our rhythm," Vinicius had said.
Senegal will take on Norway in the next game to be played at the venue on June 22.
We’ve all seen the clips of Cristiano Ronaldo’s comical misses during Portugal’s pre-tournament friendlies. The wayward header, the one-on-one miss, the decision to shoot when the chance to pass to a teammate was right there. As the Portugal captain goes in search of his 1000th goal, it’s his selfishness that is going to cost Roberto Martinez’s men a shot of glory.
Euro 2024 should have provided a pre-cursor into how ineffective Ronaldo now is on the international stage. Given the raft of talent available to Roberto Martinez - Bruno Fernandes, Rafael Leao and Vitinha, to name three - Portugal will be better off limiting the 41-year-old’s role.
When it rains, it pours. Quite literally as far as England are concerned. They may have beaten New Zealand and Costa Rica in their pre-tournament friendlies, but their World Cup preparation has been anything but plain sailing. Firstly, there was a shooting near their World Cup base in Kansas. Their equipment was stolen, their camp was hit by a 6.1 magnitude earthquake before a severe storm and tornado warning was sent out. As they look to win their first piece of international silverware since 1966, everything seems to be conspiring against the Three Lions ahead of their tournament opener against Croatia.
Ghana’s bid to progress to the knockout stages suffered a blow before the World Cup kicked off. Mohammed Kudus suffered a quad injury in a 1-1 draw with Sunderland back in January. The Tottenham Hotspur star hasn’t featured since.
And Kudus’ absence is a significant blow for the Black Stars as they look to claim a tournament opening victory over Panama. It increases the pressure on Antoine Semenyo, who comes into the competition on the back of a strong domestic season having scored 17 times in the Premier League last season. How he shoulders the burden will determine how far Ghana in North America.
Uzbekistan made the controversial choice of sacking Timur Kapadze and hiring Fabio Cannavaro as head coach last October. The former was the man who guided the White Wolves to their first ever World Cup, but having been relegated to assistant manager under the Italian; he tendered his resignation in November.
It’s a gamble by Uzbekistan. Cannavaro’s managerial record is so-so and they geared up for the tournament with back-to-back defeats to co-hosts Canada and European giants Netherlands. Now, the former centre-back makes his competitive debut as Uzbekistan boss, and does so against South American powerhouse Colombia. It could be a long 90 minutes for Cannavaro and co.
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