World Cup 2026. Argentina, France, and Norway began their World Cup campaign with a victory.

The first round of the World Championship is providing football fans with spectacular matches. On the night and morning of June 17, 2026, the national teams of France and Argentina began their tournament campaigns with victories, while Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe recorded historic achievements.

 

Mbappe leads France to victory

 

The 2022 World Championship runner-up, the French national team, also started the World Cup successfully. The French defeated Senegal 3:1 in the first round of the group stage.

 

The match was also historic for French national team forward Kylian Mbappe. He increased his goal tally for the national team to 58, becoming the all-time top scorer in French national team history.

 

Additionally, Mbappe raised his goal count in World Championships to 14.

 

Norway defeats Iraq by a large margin

 

In another match of Group "I," the Norwegian national team faced Iraq. The Scandinavian representatives maintained dominance throughout the match, defeating their opponent 4:1. Erling Haaland scored two goals in this match.

 

Messi scores a hat-trick

 

The Argentine national team secured a confident 3:0 victory over Algeria in the first round of the group stage. Team captain Lionel Messi scored all the goals in the match, recording his first hat-trick in the World Cup.

 

With these three goals, the Argentine legend increased his goal tally in World Championship history to 16. As a result, he equaled the record of German Miroslav Klose, considered the all-time top scorer in World Cup history.

 

Furthermore, this match held special significance for Messi. He played his 200th match for the Argentine national team. Lionel Messi also retained his records as both the youngest and oldest player to score a goal in national team history.