{"id":720920,"date":"2026-06-23T09:51:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T09:51:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/720920\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T09:51:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T09:51:11","slug":"fifa-world-cup-stars-messi-mbappe-and-haaland-dazzle-on-the-same-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/720920\/","title":{"rendered":"FIFA World Cup stars Messi, Mbapp\u00e9 and Haaland dazzle on the same day"},"content":{"rendered":"

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) \u2014 After Lionel Messi scored two goals<\/a> to set the World Cup record and Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 kept pace<\/a> in the career chase, Erling Haaland delivered another dazzling performance on a showcase day for the tournament\u2019s top stars.<\/p>\n

Haaland scored twice for Norway in the first 15 minutes of the second half of a 3-2 win over Senegal<\/a> on Monday night, making up for clanking a shot off the post and getting denied on a header just before halftime. His performance came hours after Messi scored two for Argentina and Mbapp\u00e9 did the same for France.<\/p>\n

Teammate Kristian Thorstvedt called Haaland a big-game player who lives for these moments. Roughly a month away from his 26th birthday, Haaland is showing he can keep up with some of soccer\u2019s more experienced stars while playing on a team without the same pedigree or championship history.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is the best striker,\u201d coach St\u00e5le Solbakken said through an interpreter. \u201cHe is not playing for France or Argentina. He scores for Norway.\u201d<\/p>\n

The three have combined to score 13 goals in the World Cup: five for Messi and four each for Mbapp\u00e9<\/a> and Haaland in the race for the Golden Boot, which Iraq coach Graham Arnold predicted will be a very good competition between them.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s easier to win the Golden Boot when you play for France and Argentina,\u201d Solbakken said. \u201cBut we\u2019ll try to give Erling more games and more help in the next games.\u201d<\/p>\n

Messi became<\/a> the World Cup\u2019s career scoring leader with 18 goals when he and Argentina beat Austria in Arlington, Texas. Mbapp\u00e9 is now at 16, tied with former record holder Miroslav Klose, after he and France beat Iraq 3-0<\/a> in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"France's<\/p>\n

France\u2019s Kylian Mbappe (10) and his teammates gesture to fans following the World Cup Group I soccer match between France and Iraq in Philadelphia, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo\/Petr David Josek)<\/p>\n

France\u2019s Kylian Mbappe (10) and his teammates gesture to fans following the World Cup Group I soccer match between France and Iraq in Philadelphia, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo\/Petr David Josek)<\/p>\n

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Playing in his first World Cup, Haaland is at four. Norway last qualified in 1998 \u2014 two years before he was born.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s be happy, every single Norwegian on the planet,\u201d Haaland said. \u201cI\u2019m part of something special. Norway\u2019s part of something special. We\u2019re making history.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 6-foot-5 Manchester City striker has now scored in 12 consecutive competitive matches for Norway. He has 24 goals over that stretch, and the last time Haaland did not score for Norway in a game that mattered was Oct. 13, 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s on fire,\u201d Solbakken said. \u201cI\u2019m very happy for him that he can score on the biggest stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Haaland had the fewest touches of anyone on either team in the first half, getting guarded tightly by an opponent that knew just how important it was to contain him. Still, Solbakken pointed out that Haaland missed an open net and \u201ccould have scored even four.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Norway's<\/p>\n

Norway\u2019s Erling Haaland (9) celebrates after scoring their third goal during the World Cup Group I soccer match between Norway and Senegal in East Rutherford, N.J., near New York, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo\/Steve Luciano)<\/p>\n

Norway\u2019s Erling Haaland (9) celebrates after scoring their third goal during the World Cup Group I soccer match between Norway and Senegal in East Rutherford, N.J., near New York, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo\/Steve Luciano)<\/p>\n

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\u201cHe\u2019s one of the best strikers in the world,\u201d Senegal\u2019s Ismail Jakobs said. \u201cWe used part of the game making some things very difficult to start with (for him), as you could see.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then Haaland found his footing on a wet surface at the Meadowlands that had been deluged by rain<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He scored his first goal on a 4-on-2 rush, putting behind him the frustration from earlier. After getting his second by banking a right-footed shot off the crossbar and in, Haaland held his left hand up to his left ear to encourage cheers of a large contingent of red-clad fans who chanted, \u201cNor-ge! Nor-ge!\u201d and performed their signature Viking rowing celebration in the stands.<\/p>\n

Asked how he was doing it, Haaland struggled to come up with an explanation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d Haaland said. \u201cIt\u2019s my specialty to score goals. It\u2019s like many other things: I\u2019m just really good at scoring goals, and I\u2019m quite lucky. I don\u2019t know what I\u2019m doing, but yeah. That\u2019s just how it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP Soccer Writer James Robson in Atlanta and AP Sports Writer Dan Gelston in Philadelphia contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP World Cup: https:\/\/apnews.com\/FIFA-World-Cup<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) \u2014 After Lionel Messi scored two goals to set the World Cup record and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":720921,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[15665,8367,8363,594,310251,310250,6865,305674,1997,2005,1999,6803,403,99],"class_list":["post-720920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-argentina","tag-erling-haland","tag-fifa-world-cup","tag-france","tag-ismail-jakobs","tag-kristian-thorstvedt","tag-lionel-messi","tag-miroslav-klose","tag-new-jersey","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-norway","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=720920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720920\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/720921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=720920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=720920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=720920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}