The striker, who is about to turn 39 years old, reached 16 goals in the world championships and reached the best scorer in the history of the tournament, Miroslav Klose.
There were no surprises on the next day of the World Cup. Despite the fact that France spent the first half without light, thanks to Kylian Mbappe’s double, France defeated Senegal (3:1). Then the Norwegians led by Erling Holland left no chance to Iraq (4:1), then Argentina won against Algeria with a big score thanks to Messi’s goals (3:0), and Austria defeated Jordan (3:1).
Interesting events are also taking place outside the field: Tunisia has a new head coach, Koreans announced a boycott of journalists, England and Uzbekistan changed their players in the final squad a day before the game.
Holland made his debut at the World Cup
Iraq – Norway 1:4
Goals: Holland, 29 (0:1). Hussein, 39 (1:1). Holland, 43 (1:2). Estigore, 76 (1:3). Hussein, 90+6 – own goal (1:4)
Iraq: Jalal, Tahsin, Hashim, Doski, Ali (Saadun, 73), Al-Ammari, Ismail (Farji, 59), Yasim (Qasim, 73), Bayesh (Muhanad, 78), Al-Hamadi (Iqbal, 59), Hussein
Norway: Newlann, Ayyer, Heggem, Wolfe (Estigor, 73), Ryuerson, Berge, Eursnes (Thorstvedt, 73), Nusa (Bobb, 73), Edegor (Berg, 81), Syorlot (Shelderup, 73), Holand
Warning: Tahsin, 86
The pair of Iraq and Norway were clear favorites. Although both teams returned to the World Cup after long absences (1986 and 1998 respectively), the difference in squads was huge. And he had his say on the field.
The start of the game was not as easy as expected for the Norwegians: they could not break the Iraqi defensive wall for a long time. During the water break, the Scandinavians demonstrated a new technology – the players wore special cooling backpacks filled with ice. Not only Erling Holland took advantage of this.
On this day, a lot of attention was paid to this forward – this player, who is considered one of the main stars of his generation, went to the World Cup for the first time in his career. He tried hard: for reference, Holland was the clear scorer in the European qualifying tournament with 16 goals in eight games. He also showed his level at the World Cup, scoring a double in the first half. Notably, he equaled Norway’s top scorer in World Cup history (2), Hetil Andre Rekdal, in 43 minutes. Rekdal scored his goals in seven matches in two World Cups.
Ayman Husayn from Iraq responded to Holland’s goals in the first half. But in the second half, the Norwegians solved the problem of the game – Leo Estigor, who joined the game from the reserve in the 73rd minute, scored a goal three minutes later, and in the minutes added to the game, Husayn also scored his own goal and became an anti-hero. 4:1 – the Scandinavians got off to a strong start in the World Championship.
Messi’s hat-trick
Argentina – Algeria 3:0
Goals: Messi, 17 (1:0). Messi, 60 (2:0). Messi, 76 (3:0)
Argentina: E. Martinez, L. Martinez, Romero (Otamendi, 80), Medina, Montiel (Molina, 46), McAllister, Fernandez, Almada (Alvarez, 55), de Paul, Messi (Pas, 80), L. Martinez (Gonzalez, 55)
Algeria: Zidane, Mandi, Bensebayni, Ayt Nouri, Belgali, Bintalib (Bulbina, 81), Maza (Zerrouki, 82), Budawi (Auar, 64), Shaibi, Haji-Moussa (Mahrez, 64), Guiry (Amura, 64)
Argentina’s game at the World Cup was eagerly awaited by many – the Latin Americans will have to defend the title won in Qatar in this tournament. The first opponent was Algeria. The Africans are a competitive enough team, but they couldn’t stop Lionel Messi and his men.
In general, the appearance of the 38-year-old forward on the field from the first minutes was a small surprise – he missed part of the training camp for the tournament due to an injury received at the club. But he still managed to get ready for the first game, and first of all, he set a record for participation in world championships – now the number of World Cups on Messi’s account has reached six. Only Cristiano Ronaldo has a chance to repeat his result in the near future, he will have to play for Portugal on June 17 against the DR Congo national team.
Messi was not limited to technical records on this day. The experienced striker decided the game with his hat-trick: he scored in the 17th, 60th and 76th minutes of the goal guarded by Luca Zidane, the son of the legendary Zinedine Zidane.
With three goals, Leo equaled Miroslav Klose’s World Cup goalscoring record – he now has 16 goals. The Argentinian striker can become the best scorer in the history of the World Cup in this tournament itself. But for now, he is limited to achieving that status only on a South American scale – he has surpassed Brazil’s Ronaldo, who scored a total of 15 goals across four tournaments.
After the match, Messi could not contain his emotions. “Yes, I cried after the first goal… But it’s not related to football at all. I had difficult days, I want to thank the whole delegation and my teammates, they were always by my side and supported me,” said Leo.
Two different departments of France
France – Senegal 3:1
Goals: Mbappe, 66 (1:0). Barkolya, 82 (2:0). Mbay, 90+5 (2:1). Mbappe, 90+6 (3:1)
France: Menyan, Upamecano, Saliba, Hernandez, Kunde, Tchuameni, Rabiot, Dembele (Barcoglia, 80), Due (Sherky, 87), Oliseh, Mbappe
Senegal: Mendy, Koulibaly, Niakate, Diouf, Diatta, Gana Guyye (Siss, 88), Guyye (Deng, 83), Kamara (Diarra, 75), Mane, Sarr (Mbay, 75), Jackson (Ndiay, 83)
Didier Deschamps, who won gold at the 2018 World Cup in Russia and silver at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, is one of the favorites in this tournament. But the French were very sluggish in the first half of the game against Senegal: they did not have a single shot on goal and recorded only 0.02 xG. The Africans had several dangerous situations, in one of these situations, after a shot by Nicholas Jackson, the ball almost turned into an own goal through the goalkeeper.
In the second 45th minute, the head referee of the game, Alirizo Faghani, did not believe Kylian Mbappe, who fell in the penalty area, and did not award a penalty against Senegal. The 27-year-old forward, who was bitter about this, scored a double in the end and secured France’s victory (3:1). Through these goals, Mbappe became the best scorer in the history of his national team (58 goals) and the third scorer in the history of the World Cup (14). In this regard, he is only behind such football legends as Messi, Klose (16) and Brazilian Ronaldo (15).
New head coach in Tunisia
The African team surprised everyone by resigning the head coach Sabri Lyamushi after the defeat against Sweden in the first round (1:5). According to insiders, his son (a member of the coaching staff) was involved in a fight with fans after the game.
The next day, a new head coach was found to replace Lyamoushy: the Tunisian Football Federation announced the appointment of Herve Renard. The 57-year-old expert rose to fame at the 2022 World Cup, when Saudi Arabia under his leadership sensationally beat Argentina (2:1) in the first round.
This French expert is not new to Africa. Before Tunisia, he also worked for the national teams of Zambia (twice), Angola and Ivory Coast. Ahead, he will have matches against Japan (June 21) and the Netherlands (June 26) with the new team.
Korean boycott
The representatives of the Tunisian national team had a fight with the fans, while the South Korean players had a problem with the journalists. This conflict arose out of nowhere: during the team’s training before the match against the Czech Republic, the communication of media representatives was recorded on the microphone of the JTBC TV channel – they made fun of Son Heung-min’s service in the army.
One of them said: “He behaves like he is in the army. Can he consider himself the captain and force his teammates to run after him?” Another replies: “He didn’t even serve in the army.” They did not like the fact that the player was then limited to three weeks of training (usually soldiers serve 21 months) and was exempted from full duty due to victory in the 2018 Asian Games.
In addition, two reporters also said insulting words to the honor of the captain of the team.
The recording went viral on social media, and the players took their captain’s side: they canceled scheduled interviews and demanded that pre-recorded interviews not be released. The players staged another spectacle at the press conference: the foreign journalists were asked to leave, after which the Korean journalists who stayed inside were forced to leave.
A snake in a German base
The number of teams that are having trouble in this world cup is increasing. For example, a thief broke into the English base and took away the training equipment and balls, leaving only one ball. A poisonous snake appeared at the German base.
“Yesterday we saw a snake. We were told it was poisonous. When he was bitten, he had to go to the hospital. I don’t think it kills, but it’s dangerous anyway. If you get hold of such a snake, it will not end well,” Bild quotes the captain of the German national team, Joshua Kimmich.
According to the publication, we are talking about a rattlesnake.
England and Uzbekistan updated their squads on the eve of the deadline
The Brazilian national team is waiting until the end of Neymar’s recovery from the injury (he missed training with the general group and the match against Morocco due to a calf muscle injury, but started individual training), and the English and Uzbeks have replaced their injured players with new ones. England national team right-back Valentino Livramento has been replaced by Trevor Chalobah due to a calf problem.
Also, the midfielder of the national team of Uzbekistan, Jalaluddin Masharipov, could not participate in the World Cup. He was suffering from a herniated intervertebral disc and the medical staff’s treatments did not help, and now Ruslanbek Ziyanov has taken his place in the final 26-man roster.
Calendar for June 17-18
The first round of the World Championship is coming to an end. On the evening of June 17 and the night of June 18, the following teams will compete in groups K and L:
- 22:00 Portugal — Congo DR
- 01.00 England – Croatia
- 04.00 Ghana — Panama
- 07.00 Uzbekistan — Colombia
