The next day of the World Cup was also full of events: Mbappe and Holland are not far behind Messi; In the Arab derby, Jordan lost to Algeria and exited the tournament early.
The second round of the World Championship is coming to an end – on the evening of June 22 and on the night of June 23, further matches were held at this stage. The day was full of events: Lionel Messi scored a record in Argentina’s 2-0 win over Austria, France denied Iraq any chance in an excessively long game (3-0), Norway defeated Senegal (3-2), and Jordan lost to Algeria despite scoring first (1-2).
There’s also a lot going on around football: a Ghanaian shaman threatened Harry Kane, Jeremy Doku became a father, and match-fixing could take place in Group D.
Messi entered history
Argentina – Austria 2:0
Goals: Messi, 38 (1:0). Messi, 90+5 (2:0)
Missed penalty: Messi, 9′
Argentina: E. Martinez, L. Martinez, Romero (Otamendi, 57), Medina (Tagliafico, 82), Molina, de Paul (Paredes, 82), McAllister, Fernandez, Messi, Almada (Alvarez, 64), L. Martinez (Gonzalez, 64)
Austria: A. Schlager, Danso, Posch (Friedl, 67), Alaba (Prass, 67), Wanner (Arnautovic, 67), K. Schlager, Seewald, Zabitzer, Schmid (Wimmer, 78), Leimer, Gregorich (Chukvuemeka, 85)
Warnings: Medina, 76. Paredes, 90 – Posh, 40. Laymer, 76
On the evening of June 22, the eyes of the whole world were focused on Argentina’s match with Austria. The fans were more interested in Messi’s result than the result of the game. The 38-year-old striker was on the verge of setting a new record for the number of goals scored in the world championships. Before the game, he had 16 such goals – he needed one more to overtake Germany’s Miroslav Klose and become the clear first.
In Leo, the first opportunity for this occurred at the start of the game – in the 9th minute, the referee awarded a penalty to the European team after VAR intervention. But the experienced forward could not shoot accurately from 11 meters. This was the first time in the current tournament that a penalty was wrongly executed – six players used their opportunities effectively.
But the eight-time winner of the “Golden Ball” did not wait long for the historic moment. He achieved his goal at the end of the first half and set an absolute record. In the minutes added to the second half, he registered a double and took the lead in the race of the top scorers of the current tournament. Argentina scored five goals in two games and all of these goals were scored by Leo.
Brilliant performance from Storm and Mbappe
France – Iraq 3:0
Goals: Mbappe, 14 (1:0). Mbappe, 54 (2:0). Dembele, 66 (3:0)
France: Menyan, Upamecano, Saliba, Dean, Kunde (Giusto, 83), Kone, Rabiot, Olise (Sherky, 68), Barcollia (Akliush, 83), Dembele (Due, 68), Mbappe (Thuram, 90+1)
Iraq: Bazil, Tahsin (Sulaka, 60), Hashim, Doski, Ali, Al-Ammari (Farji, 68), Iqbal, Ismail (Amin, 60), Bayesh (Sher, 68), Qasim, Hussein (Al-Hamadi, 26)
Warnings: Al-Ammari, 6
Long before the start of this game, forecasters warned that the match between France and Iraq could be affected by bad weather in Philadelphia. In practice, the game started in the rain, but the players decided to play.
France took the lead in the 14th minute. As in the first round, Michael Olise and Kylian Mbappe created a beautiful goal: the Bayern midfielder passed the ball to the Real forward, who had entered the penalty area, and he shot with all his might and hit the far corner. Near halftime the rain doubled and the lightning started. After the referee’s whistle, the players literally ran away from the field.
The second half did not start on time. First, the standard 15-minute break was increased by half an hour, then another 40 minutes, and then another hour and a half. In the end, the players returned to the lawn only after 2 hours and 10 minutes.
The pause did not affect the French. Instead, the rested players pushed forward with great force and Mbappe took advantage of the mistakes of the opponents to celebrate his 16th goal in the world championships and in this regard, he reached Miroslav Klose’s mark and continued to chase Lionel Messi. The final score in the game was set by Usman Dembele – 3:0.
Holland took Norway to the playoffs
Norway – Senegal 3:2
Goals: Pedersen, 43 (1:0). Holland, 48 (2:0). I. Sarr, 53 (2:1). Holland, 58 (3:1). I. Sarr, 90+3 (3:2)
Norway: Newlann, Ayyer, Heggem (Estigor, 84), Wolfe, Ryuerson (Pedersen, 13), Berge, Eursnes (Berg, 46), Edegor, Nusa (Shelderup, 71), Serlot (Bobb, 84), Holland
Senegal: Mendy (Diaw, 63), Coulibaly (P. Sarr, 72), Niakate, Diouf (Jacobs, 54), Diatta, Ghana Guyye, Guyye (Mbay, 54), Kamara (Siss, 63), Mane, I. Sarr, Jackson
The Scandinavians spent the first half of the game with Senegal by destroying good opportunities. In one of those situations, Erling Holland also tricked the goalkeeper Eduard Mendy, but he could not hit the empty goal. Nevertheless, Markus Holmgren Pederson opened the scoring at the end of the half.
Holland woke up in the second 45 minutes: the star forward of “Manchester City” scored a double and became Norway’s best scorer in the world championships (4 goals). The Senegalese are also back in the game. Ismail Sarr played brilliantly for the African team and scored twice. Only this could not help his team – 2:3.
According to the results of the two rounds, Norway collected 6 points on the same level as the French and decided to go to the playoffs. In the last round, these teams will fight each other for the leadership of the group. Senegal and Iraq have no points yet.
Jordan left the tournament
Goals: Al-Rashdan, 36 (1:0). Benbuali, 69 (1:1). Guiry, 82 (1:2)
Jordan: Abulayla, Al-Arab, Abu Dahab (Ubayd, 90+1), Nasib, Al-Rawabdeh, Al-Rashdan, Abu Taha (Abu Hashish, 84), Haddad, Olwan (Abu Zrayk, 90+1), Al-Mardi (Al-Fakhuri, 76), At-Tamari (Azayzeh, 84)
Algeria: Zidane, Mandi, Bensebayni, Ait Nouri (Hajam, 85), Belgali, Zerruki (Bintolib, 46), Badawi (Benbuali, 46), Maza, Shaibi, Mahrez (Haji-Musa, 76), Guiry (Belaid, 86)
Warnings: Abu Dahab, 64 – Zerruki, 44
Both teams started the tournament with defeats: Algeria was completely helpless against Argentina (0:3), and Jordan fought to a draw with Austria and conceded goals at the end of the game (1:3). A team that loses in the second round will not be able to make the playoffs.
In the first half of the game, the Algerians had a big advantage in possession of the ball (74 to 26 percent), and the situation was equal. In terms of using them, Jordan did a better job: Nizan Al-Rashdan accurately targeted the lower right corner of the goalkeeper after Musa At-Tamari’s pass. But this goal did not bring results.
In the second half, Nadir Benbuali restored the balance with a header after Riyaz Mahrez’s cross. Soon, Algeria took the lead: Amin Guiry was the fastest when a corner kick was played – 2:1. Now the result of the third round does not matter for Jordan.
The famous shaman is back
England will play Ghana on June 23. The Africans, who saw the match of Thomas Tuchel’s team against Croatia (4:2), are using all means, including unusual methods, in the process of preparing for the upcoming match.
In particular, the famous Ghanaian shaman Nana Kwaku Bonsam said in an interview with English publications that he will curse Harry Kane, the forward of “Three Lions”. He says he doesn’t plan to do anything dangerous, but he still wants to stop the opponent’s attacker.
“I don’t want to seriously injure him. It is enough to stop it. I will do my job to help Ghana,” said Bonsam.
This shaman has made sensational appearances in the media before. At the 2014 World Cup, Ghana played against Portugal – Cristiano Ronaldo was injured on the eve of the tournament, and Nana Kwaku took responsibility for it, explaining that it was for his country. But the Portuguese striker managed to recover before the game and scored a goal for Ghana (2:1), so Kane can’t worry about anything.
Will there be a match?
The current regulation aims to minimize the possibility of match-fixing between national teams. But it seems that there is no way to permanently eliminate this problem – the basis for match-fixing in the 2026 tournament has also been created.
Fans are questioning the match between Paraguay and Australia – the representatives of Group D will play each other in the 3rd round on June 25. The situation in the quartet is such that both teams will be satisfied with a draw in the last round – in which case both teams will have four points and can enter the playoffs together.
Of course, teams cannot be blamed in advance. But on that day, the eyes of the whole world will be focused on the actions of the players of this team.
Doku became a father
Belgian striker Jeremy Doku became a father for the first time. The press service of the team officially informed about it. The 24-year-old winger left the team’s base a few days ago and missed the match against Iran, for which L’Equipe journalist Frans Perron criticized the player.
“There are hundreds of players who are ready to sacrifice themselves to get to the World Cup. A childhood dream, the most important moment. And would you give it up to have a baby? It’s disgusting. At such a time, it is not important for the mother to be with the father, he plays the role of an extra”, said Perron.
The journalist immediately came under criticism – both he and the publication he works for had to issue an apology. Doku himself did not pay attention to this, went to his wife and became one of the happy fathers.
Next games
The last matches of the second round will be held on the evening of June 23 and the night of June 24.
- 22.00. Group K. Portugal — Uzbekistan
- 01.00. Group L. England – Ghana
- 04.00. Group L. Panama – Croatia
- 07.00. Group K. Colombia — Congo DR
