The first matchweek of the World Cup is complete, with each of the 48 teams having played once. It is too early to draw conclusions, especially in a 48-nation field where the gap in quality is vast and a single result can distort as much as it reveals.Final judgement cannot be compressed into 90 minutes, but the signals from the opening round are hard to ignore. Records fell, big names announced themselves.The groups and leaderboards will begin to crystallise over the next two rounds — but for now, here is who topped the charts, and what the data tells us.Golden BootStrikers’ league performances are judged on sustained volume and consistency across months. At a World Cup, it is clutch moments and the quality of chances taken that matter more.Here is what the numbers say about who did that in matchweek one, and whether it could be sustained.Messi’s elite ball-strikingLionel Messi, 38, scored a hat-trick against Algeria, becoming the oldest in men’s World Cup history to do so.With the third, he drew level with Miroslav Klose on 16 goals, the tournament’s all-time record. Twenty years after becoming Argentina’s youngest World Cup scorer, he is now their oldest, cherry-picking which records to break.What was striking was the economy of his actions. He appeared unhurried and precise, arriving at the right moments and slowing down the game whenever the ball found him.Lionel Scaloni’s Argentina know where to find him, and there is something quietly dangerous about Messi on the biggest stage with nothing left to prove.Argentina arrive liberated in 2026. The heavy pressure lifted in Qatar has been replaced by a newfound squad maturity, allowing them to play with the authority of champions. This calm efficiency is best seen in Messi’s output; his three goals came from an xG of just 1.05.A more commanding goalkeeper might have dealt with one of those chances, but Messi’s elite ball-striking shone through as he generated an xGOT of 1.86.This value shows his finishing was dictated by precision: six shots, four on target, and seven touches in the box.Mbappe’s explosive abilityEarlier that day, Kylian Mbappe had records to collect, too. In his first World Cup match as France captain, he scored against Senegal and, with his second, became France’s all-time leading scorer with 58 international goals, passing Olivier Giroud.The Golden Boot winner from Qatar was explosive: sudden, sharp and decisive when it mattered. He led the line and steadied his side after Senegal scored. Michael Olise, the creative engine behind him, supplied the opener.The second was a long-range finish from an xG of just 0.04 — Mbappe found the net, and French records, from distance with a spectacular strike. All four of his shots were on target. Efficient, direct, purposeful.