A high-scoring World Cup night ended with clear wins for France, Norway and Argentina, led by Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland and Lionel Messi. The matches were played overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday on the tournament’s sixth day, after four draws the previous day.
France beat Senegal 3-1 in a clash between the World Cup runner-up and Africa’s runner-up in one of the tournament’s toughest groups, which also includes Norway and Iraq. After a goalless first half, Mbappe scored in the 66th minute from a fine assist by Michael Olise. Bradley Barcola, who had come on only two minutes earlier, made it 2-0 in the 82nd minute. Senegal pulled one back in the 95th minute through Ibrahim Mbamaya after an uncharacteristic error by goalkeeper Mike Maignan, but Mbappe struck again a minute later to seal the result and become France’s all-time leading World Cup scorer.
Norway then overpowered Iraq 4-1 in both teams’ first World Cup match of the 21st century. Haaland opened the scoring in the 29th minute, Iraq equalized through Ayman Hussein, and Haaland restored the lead four minutes later after a defensive mistake for his second goal on World Cup debut. Leo Ostigard scored in the 76th minute from a corner set up by Martin Odegaard, and the final goal was later credited as an own goal by Hussein after initially being assigned to substitute Kristian Thorstvedt.
Argentina closed the night with a 3-0 win over Algeria, driven by Messi. In his sixth World Cup, he entered the match three goals shy of the all-time tournament scoring record and equalized it after 76 minutes with a trademark left-footed finish. He then scored twice more, first from a loose save by Lamine Zidane and then on a counterattack to beat Luka Zidane. Messi now shares the World Cup scoring record with Miroslav Klose, with at least two matches left to break it.
