MLS Unc Takes Headlines Despite Doubles From Mbappe And Haaland 🥀+ Portugal And England Review

Lionel Messi Is Unquestionably Timeless…

At the age of 38+ years, Lionel Messi doesn’t age and has shown his class by scoring a hat trick in Argentina’s 2026 World Cup opener against African giant Algeria.

Messi’s first goal was a venomous outside-the-box, top-bins strike going past Luca Zidane, the son of French and Real Madrid icon Zinedine Zidane, with not much he could do about that strike.

He (Messi) proceeded to score his second, which was how quickly he could react, and then placed the keeper, and the third was a left bottom strike in the second half, which secured the 3:0 win for World Cup holders Argentina while taking them to the top of the group after their opening game.

The eight-time Ballon d’Or holder broke records, like being the joint top scorer in the tournament’s history alongside Miroslav Klose with 16 goals, and needs one more to break the record. Messi also became the oldest player to score a hat trick in a World Cup match, outdoing his bitter rival Cristiano Ronaldo, who was 33 years and 130 days old when he scored that famous hat trick against Spain in the 2018 World Cup.

Lastly, he became the first Argentine player to score in five consecutive World Cup matches, going past Hernán Crespo and Guillermo Stábile. That marked his 11th career hat trick for Argentina and his 61st, cumulating both club and country.

On a personal note, I think it’s high time we have some uncomfortable conversations. Firstly, the GOAT debate ended a long time ago, and it was BEFORE the 2022 World Cup, but the disparity between Messi and every other player in modern football history is quite immense.

Sure, you do have your Pelés and Maradonas, but tbf, I didn’t watch them play, so I won’t be subjective, but in terms of accolades and what I have seen with my two eyes, Messi has to be the greatest player to grace the game.

Sure, I am a Real Madrid fan, and I have every right to be subjective, but there’s no way to dispute these facts. I’m not the biggest Messi fan, nor am I a hater (idek how someone hates on Messi), but I hold him in the highest regard and give credit where it is due.

Secondly, I think Messi might just be the greatest sportsman ever. In terms of modern sports, he definitely takes the crown, but of all time it’s really not crazy to say he’s disputing him alongside athletes like MJ, LeBron James and Muhammad Ali.

Haaland Fires Double On World Cup Debut + France Slam AFCON Champions, Senegal

Norway made their first World Cup appearance since 1998 and only their fourth in their history, playing an Iraq side that hasn’t made the World Cup since 1986 and only their second in their history.

Erling Haaland got Norway’s first goal half an hour in, thanks to a perfect cross from David Wolfe, which Haaland got on the receiving end of. The Manchester City striker then got his second in the 43rd minute, giving Norway the lead going into halftime.

Ostiagrd then added a third for the Norwegians after an excellent delivery from Odegaard before Hussein UNFORTUNATELY was on the receiving end of an own goal, taking the Norwegians to the top of the table ahead of France, whom they play on matchday, and it will be a top-of-the-table clash.

This makes it the first time that Norway has scored 3 or more goals in any edition of the World Cup tournament since its inauguration in 1930 and its debut appearance in 1938.

I have done a post-game review for France but here it is regardless…

Lebleu kicked off their World Cup opener playing African finalists Senegal, and knowing a win will immediately take them top of the group whilst depending on Norway’s result will resume the second matchday as group leaders.

The first half was more of the Senegalese threat, and they could have gotten a goal if Jackson and Sarr hadn’t left their shooting boots at home, and somehow every big chance that Senegal had fell to either one of them.

In the first half France really struggled to create anything real and was backed up by poor decision-making and not being concise in the final third. France also struggled to break the Senegalese mid-block, from which Senegal’s big chances came from quick transitions from counter-attacking, and they had the right player profiles to execute such, but just couldn’t capitalise.

In the second half France finally figured it out, with Olise setting up Mbappe with a beautiful assist which Mbappe just had to do justice to before Rabiot set up Bradley Barcola for the second goal as a result of the space free for the French attackers to exploit due to the Senegalese lackadaisical performance after the French goal was scored.

Illman Ndiaye assisted Mbaye, who pulled one back for the Senegalese before Mbappe scored the third goal for France, which ended up being the deciding factor and finally put the game to bed. That goal made him France’s all-time top scorer, tying World Cup goals with Lionel Messi, and he is now 2 away from tying Miroslav Klose, who holds the record for most goals scored in World Cup history at 16 and will need 3 to break the record.

Is Portugal on fraud watch?

Portugal kicked off their World Cup opener against DRC, a country which eliminated Cameroon, Nigeria and Jamaica (I had every reason to hate-watch them) playing in their first-ever world cup (I am still really happy for them!)

Congo lined up with a back five, which meant trying to cover those spaces in the wide areas to limit the Portuguese attacking threat.

However, in the 6th minute of the game, Joao Neves managed to get on the receiving end of a cross from Pedro Neto, which made it his 5th goal for Portugal and his first in his debut World Cup appearance.

Moreover, Congo remained compact defensively and were able to counter the Portugese a few times in the game, other than the goal scored by Wissa, which they scored from a corner awarded from this same scenario. Congo registered more shots than the Portuguese, more xG and big chances at just 1 in the first half whilst on an 80% possession.

The endgame resulted in a draw, with a star-studded Portuguese side tipped as one of the favourites to lift the competition. The DRC registered more xG and shots at full time and could have won if they had taken their chances and been precise with their decision-making in the final third. They stuck to their game plan, and it worked, resulting in a huge draw for them and some momentum as they play Norway.

This Portugal side was lackadaisical in the game, with several players like Bruno Fernandes being non-existent in the game and Bernardo Silva having no attacking intent and being hooked at half time. Vitinha had the most total carrying distance but wasn’t tidy in possession and lost the ball quite often. And even the manager, Roberto, had his share of incompetency, famously impairing the Belgians’ golden generation.

The only player that caused some real threat going forward for the Portugese was Conceição, who came in with 2 key passes in the game and set up Ronaldo twice. I could agree with Steve Jr. take about Conceição being one of the underrated players to watch at this upcoming World Cup.

On a personal note, I didn’t want to reiterate this, but I have to, and I also pointed this out in my article with Sportsclusive, where I highlighted one of the reasons why Argentina is successful is the sacrifice the players make in exchange for collective success. That is not something you see on this Portuguese side.

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England clashed with Croatia, a repeat of the 2018 semi-World Cup between the two when Croatia came out on top on that occasion.

This time England made sure to do justice to Croatia, taking them to the top of the group table before Ghana’s clash with Panama.

This was one of the most exuberant performances seen from England in recent times, especially under the tenure of Thomas Tuchel, who is known for his defensive solidity.

The game started with Harry Kane converting a penalty after missing the initial pen but had to retake due to Livakovic coming off his line. However, Martin Baturina equalised for the Croatians with an assist from Sucic before Harry Kane gave the three lions the lead from a corner kick after an excellent delivery from Declan Rice. Peter Musa restored parity by bringing Croatia level with a right-footed shot from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal after a headed pass from Ivan Perisic.

Both teams went in level into the break, but then the second half resumed, and England played some of their best football yet, creating 5 big chances, an xG of 1.43, dominating possession with a 55% to 45% share, taking 13 shots and forcing Livaković to make 7 saves, all just in the second half alone!

This translated to England adding a further two goals from Jude Bellingham in the 42nd minute and Marcus Rashford coming on as a substitute, replacing Antony Gordon, to seal things off in the 85th minute.

Other than his goal-scoring attributes, Kane drops in so deep to help with link-up and evidently helped the defence on numerous occasions alongside Bellignam. This is one of the attributes I see from an elite team, and it just makes you know that they have the foundation for the ingredients for success.

Harry Kane’s second goal officially made him England’s best-ever scorer at the World Cup tournament with 10 goals in 12 games and tied him with Gary Lineker, whom he will need just to surpass, which he surely will get done.

Jude Bellingham is also a definition of a clutch player, but I know he has his flaws, like not being good in tight spaces or not being able to detect the cadence of the game, but it doesn‘t change the fact that he’s a clutch player, with the Englishman now scoring more goals than David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Frank Lampard at international tournaments for England. When Kane bows out of the international stage, Bellingham is simply England’s next talisman.