Cristiano Ronaldo announced his arrival at the 2026 World Cup with two goals as Portugal ignited their campaign with a 5-0 thrashing of Uzbekistan. Portugal and Ronaldo were heavily criticised after an uninspiring 1-1 draw in their Group K opener against DR Congo, but they came alive under the roof at the Houston Stadium on Tuesday.
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Two second-half goals from corners saw Algeria come from behind to beat Jordan 2-1 and keep their hopes of reaching the World Cup last 32 alive. Nadhir Benobuali and Amine Gouiri grabbed the decisive goals in Santa Clara after Nizar Al Rashdan’s opener for Jordan, setting up a clash with Austria to decide who finishes second behind Argentina in Group J.
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Erling Haaland ensured the battle for the World Cup’s golden boot is not a two-horse race with an electrifying brace in Norway’s win over Senegal in New Jersey. After Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe added to their tallies for the tournament to five and four respectively, the Manchester City forward kept himself within a goal of Messi as he scored a quickfire couple after the half-time break.
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Kylian Mbappe scored twice on his 100th appearance for France as they beat Iraq 3-0 in a match delayed for more than two hours by bad weather. Mbappe scored either side of the storm which delayed the second half to move alongside Miroslav Klose on 16 World Cup goals, behind only Lionel Messi who took the record to 18 with two goals against Austria on Monday.
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Lionel Messi became the World Cup’s all-time leading scorer when he netted both goals in Argentina’s 2-0 win over Austria in Group J in Dallas to confirm the holders’ place in the last 32. Messi took his total to 18 World Cup goals when he netted in the 38th and 95th minutes having earlier missed from the penalty spot as Argentina secured their second win to move on to six points.
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