Lionel Messi. Kylian Mbappé. Erling Haaland.It’s a very starry Monday for the World Cup.Messi and Argentina face David Alaba and Austria in their second Group J game. Mbappé leads France into its Group I matchup with Iraq, and Haaland is back in action as Norway takes on Senegal. Ali Olwan and Jordan play Algeria in the last Group J game of the day.Messi scored three times in Argentina’s 3-0 victory over Algeria in their tournament opener. The Argentines are looking to defend their World Cup championship.France, which lost to Argentina in the 2022 final, opened with a 3-1 victory against Senegal. Mbappé scored twice in the win.Messi, who turns 39 on Wednesday, is tied with Germany’s Miroslav Klose for the most goals in the men’s World Cup at 16. Ronaldo is second with 15, followed by Mbappé and Gerd Müller in a tie for fourth with 14 apiece.
Haaland, another high-scoring striker, had two goals in Norway’s 4-1 victory over Iraq in their first game. Haaland scored 27 goals in 35 Premier League games for Manchester City this past season.Jordan is looking for its first World Cup point after losing its debut match against Austria. The Jordanians are back at Levi’s Stadium to take on Algeria, which advanced out of group stage once in four previous World Cup trips, losing in the round of 16 to Germany in 2014.
