The 2026 World Cup has picked up how the 2022 edition finished with the two most impressive performances in the competition so far coming from finalists four years ago France and Argentina and the two biggest stars from Qatar – Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé.It used to be said that the World Cup does not truly start until Brazil get going, but with the five-time champions losing their lustre in recent years, the modern version could be when France get under way given their embarrassment of riches in attack. Indeed, manager Didier Deschamps naming four world-class forwards in a 4-2-4 evoked memories of 1970 Brazil, one of the tournament’s greatest sides.It failed to click however in the first half as France struggled to get the ball to their star forwards, with a strong Senegal side dominating midfield. A slight adjustment at half-time to move Michael Olise into the number 10 position got the French purring in the second half, however, and he found Mbappé with a brilliant pass for the opening goal. Goals from Bradley Barcola and a second brilliant long-range effort by Mbappé meant France ran out 3-1 winners.Mbappé briefly overtook Messi in the all-time top scorers with his 14th in just 15 games. Not for long though, as the great Messi opened his account with a stunning hat-trick against Algeria. Messi has now drawn level with Miroslav Klose as the top scorer in the history of the competition.Ken Early was there to see it, just as he was in Qatar. “It seems uncontroversial to contend that Messi has the ability to process more visual information in a given time than most people do, like a computer with a superior graphics card.” Remarkably at almost 39 years of age, the Inter Miami man has the world buzzing over his performance, and even gave Cristiano Ronaldo fans something to be aggrieved about for good measure, as he avoided a possible red card for a tackle on Aïssa Mandi.On a day for the tournament’s biggest stars, Erling Haaland was determined not to be left out as he scored his first two World Cup goals as Norway hammered Iraq 4-1. And in another case of crazy World Cup scheduling, Austria’s win over Jordan barely made the deadline for this newsletter, concluding well after 7am Irish time, after the European side came out on top 3-1 after plentiful VAR and incidents.Results: Group I – France 3 (Mbappé 66, 90+6, Barcola 82) Senegal 1 (Mbaye 90+5)Group I – Norway 4 (Haaland 29, 43, Ostigard 76, Hussein OG 90+6) Iraq 1 (Hussein 39) Group J – Argentina 3 (Messi 17, 60, 76) Algeria 0Group J – Austria 3 (Schmid 21, Al-Arab 76, Arnautovic 90+12) Jordan 1 (Olwan 50)Goal of the day: Kylian Mbappé against Algeria. The modern-day king of the World Cup delivered a moment worthy of his reputation with a stunning long-range shot from 30 metres out that flew past Eduoard Mendy. It came just after Senegal had brought the game back to 2-1 and the goal ended their hopes of a late equaliser.Moment of the day: Lionel Messi finished off a hat-trick against Algeria, surprisingly his first hat-trick in 27 games in the tournament, and was almost laughing at the outcome. Most people expected Messi to ride off into the sunset after his mic-drop World Cup win in 2022, yet here is, still continuing to prove people wrong. Messi first scored in the World Cup in 2006, before Lamine Yamal was born.Lionel Messi of Argentina celebrates scoring his team's first goal against Algeria. Photograph: Charlotte Wilson/Getty Picture of the day: French goalkeeper Mike Maignan made up for his own error to save against Senegal off the line. RTÉ commentator Darragh Maloney thought it was over, but goal-line technology ruled the AC Milan keeper did just enough to keep it out.France goalkeeper Mike Maignan saved off the line. Photograph: Kevin C Cox/Getty Question of the day: Senegal shocked France in the opening match of the 2002 World Cup, who scored the winning goal in a 1-0 win? (See answer below)Coming up today: Group K – Portugal v DR Congo (6pm Irish time, RTÉ2 & BBC One); Uzbekistan v Colombia (3am, RTÉ2 & BBC One)Group L – England v Croatia (9pm, RTÉ2 & UTV); Ghana v Panama (midnight, RTÉ2 & UTV)Elsewhere in sport: Darragh Ó Sé writes that the Dubs have given Donegal a psychological edge by suggesting championship match should be moved from Croke Park to Parnell Park, as per Ger Brennan’s suggestion. Dublin play Donegal in Round 3 of the All-Ireland series on Sunday, with the losers out of the championship.The US Open starts tomorrow at Shinnecock Hills and Shane Lowry believes a strong all-round game can yet deliver reward as he searches for his second Major title. Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy believes a patient approach can yield dividends, as an older, wiser version of himself is ready for the difficult test at Long Island, New York.Answer to question: It was Papa Bouba Diop. The midfielder later had a solid career in the Premier League, most notably for Fulham. He sadly died in 2020 at just 42 after a long illness.