Lionel Messi scored the first hat-trick of his World Cup career in the opening week of the 2026 tournament, equaling the record for most World Cup goals in the process, and signaling that the 37-year-old Argentine is not finished on the game's biggest stage.
The tournament, held in North America, has already produced a series of results that few anticipated heading into the group stage, according to Al Jazeera.
Spain, ranked second in the world and considered the outright favorite to win the tournament, were held to a goalless draw by Cape Verde, an island nation off the west coast of Africa with a population of roughly half a million people and a team ranked 65 places below Spain in the FIFA world rankings.
While Messi dominated the headlines, his longtime rival Cristiano Ronaldo had the opposite kind of week. Portugal were held to a 1-1 draw by DR Congo on Wednesday, with Ronaldo drawing widespread scrutiny for a mostly anonymous performance. DR Congo's equalizer came from Yoane Wissa, who scored his first-ever international goal and the first World Cup goal in DR Congo's history.
France's Kylian Mbappe, 27, became his country's all-time leading scorer during France's opening match. He now sits two goals shy of the all-time record for most World Cup goals in tournament history.
In the Golden Boot standings after the first round of group matches, Messi leads outright with three goals. Seven players are tied for second place with two goals each, including England's Harry Kane, Norway's Erling Haaland, and Mbappe.
Germany defeated Curacao 7-1. Despite the score, Al Jazeera noted that the result did little to dampen the spirit of the Curacao squad in their first-ever World Cup appearance.
The second round of group stage matches is now underway, with Mexico set to face South Korea as the Golden Boot race continues to develop.
