World Cup roundup: Messi inspires Argentina while Mbappé and Haaland dominate for France and Norway

The FIFA World Cup group stage delivered another thrilling round of fixtures on Tuesday as Argentina, France, and Norway all picked up important victories, while Algeria edged Jordan in a tightly contested Group J clash.

 

Across four matches involving some of the tournament’s biggest names, individual brilliance defined the day, with Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, and Erling Haaland all finding the back of the net multiple times to lead their respective sides to victory.

 

Argentina 2–0 Austria (Group J)

Defending champions Argentina continued their strong start to the tournament with a composed 2–0 win over Austria, led once again by captain Lionel Messi.

 

Messi opened the scoring in the 38th minute before sealing the result deep into stoppage time (90+5), ensuring Argentina maintained their perfect record in the group stage. The victory underlined Argentina’s control of Group J as they continued their march toward the knockout rounds.

 

France 3–0 Iraq (Group I)

France delivered a dominant performance against Iraq, running out 3–0 winners behind a commanding display from Kylian Mbappé.

 

The French captain struck twice, scoring in the 14th and 54th minutes, before Ousmane Dembélé added a third in the 66th minute to complete a comfortable win. France controlled possession throughout and showcased their attacking depth as they maintained momentum in Group I.

 

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Norway 3–2 Senegal (Group I)

One of the most entertaining matches of the day saw Norway narrowly defeat Senegal 3–2 in a high-intensity encounter.

 

Marcus Holmgren Pedersen opened the scoring in the 43rd minute before Erling Haaland took over in the second half, scoring twice in the 48th and 58th minutes. Senegal fought back through Ismaïla Sarr, who netted in the 53rd minute and added a second in stoppage time (90+3), but Norway held on to secure a crucial win.

 

Algeria 2–1 Jordan (Group J)

Algeria picked up a hard-fought 2–1 victory over Jordan in Group J action to close out the day’s fixtures.

 

Jordan struck first through Nizar Al-Rashdan in the 36th minute, but Algeria responded after the break with goals from Nadhir Benbouali (69th minute) and Amine Gouiri (82nd minute) to complete the comeback and secure all three points.

 

 

It was a day dominated by star power and decisive attacking displays, with Messi, Mbappé, and Haaland all scoring braces to lead their teams. Argentina and France maintained perfect starts in their respective groups, Norway survived a late scare in a seven-goal thriller, and Algeria’s comeback victory kept Group J tightly contested behind the defending champions.

 

As the group stage intensifies, the battle for knockout-stage qualification is already shaping up to be one of the most competitive in recent World Cup history.

 

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