Messi Makes Flying Start in the Race for the World Cup Golden Boot
All 24 matches in the first round of the World Cup have now been played, and we have seen plenty of goals. In fact, there has only been one single 0-0 draw, and that was the highly surprising match between Spain and Cape Verde, where Spain never managed to break down the Africans' well-organised defence.Ahead of the World Cup, we looked at the players with the best chance of becoming the tournament's top scorer, and almost all of them have delivered as expected, or even better.
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Hat-Trick from Messi
Lionel Messi delivered best of all, doing the job on his own for Argentina as they beat Algeria. The final score was 3-0, and Messi scored all three goals, thereby completing his first ever World Cup hat-trick. In addition to being able to celebrate scoring all of his team's goals, he also became the first player ever to appear in six different World Cups in this match (something another player, who we will come to later in the article, has now also done). And as the icing on the cake, his three goals took him to 16 World Cup goals in total, meaning he has now equalled Miroslav Klose's record for the most World Cup goals of all time.Messi was the only player to score three goals and is therefore the sole leader of the scoring chart, but he has a group of players right behind him on two goals.
Several of the Other Favourites Scored Twice in the First Round
Despite Messi's start, Kylian Mbappé is still the biggest favourite to win the Golden Boot, especially as he also delivered by scoring two fine goals in France's 3-1 win over a difficult Senegal side. The second goal in particular was a real thunderbolt from distance. Mbappé is now up to 14 World Cup goals in total, and he too is closing in on Klose's record.Another one of the favourites is Erling Haaland, and he also scored twice in Norway's first match against Iraq, a game the Norwegians eventually won 4-1. His first goal came after a well-worked move in which he turned in a cross from Antonio Nusa, while his second goal was more about luck. After a weak back-pass to the Iraqi goalkeeper, Haaland was there to put him under pressure, and the goalkeeper kicked the ball against Haaland and into the net.
Germany's Kai Havertz is also one of the possible candidates to become top scorer, and he was heavily involved in the Germans' demolition of the small island nation of Curaçao, with the final score ending 7-1. Curaçao did shock the Germans when Livano Comenencia made it 1-1 in the 21st minute, but after Havertz scored from the penalty spot to make it 3-1 just before half-time, the second half became a procession towards victory. In the 88th minute, Havertz scored his second goal of the match when he completed the scoring.
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USA's Folarin Balogun
More Players on Two Goals
It is not only the favourites who scored twice in the first round; we have three more players who managed to do so.Looking at which of these players might possibly have a chance of getting involved in the race at the top of the scoring chart, Folarin Balogun is the one who should be mentioned above all. Balogun grew up in England but was born in Brooklyn, and was therefore eligible to play for the United States. However, he was persuaded to choose the USA, and scored two of the team's goals as they earned a convincing 4-1 win over Paraguay.
Sweden claimed a somewhat surprising, big and solid win over Tunisia by 5-1, and Yasin Ayari both opened and closed the scoring in that match. Even though it is nice for the midfielder Ayari, it is not realistic to expect him to keep scoring freely in the tournament, as he is not really a proven goalscorer by nature. It is worth noting, however, that Sweden's two star strikers Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyökeres each scored one goal, and perhaps one of them can get involved in the battle near the top if Sweden manage to go far, which feels a little less distant now than it did before the Tunisia match. But just how much of a true test that match was remains to be seen when the Netherlands await next.
The final player who scored twice in the first round is New Zealand's Elijah Just. The winger, who plays his club football for Scottish side Motherwell, scored both goals as New Zealand drew 2-2 with Iran. As in the case of Ayari, it is less likely that Just will score enough more goals in the tournament to be a candidate to win the Golden Boot.
A Star Who Definitely Did Not Deliver
We have listed the biggest favourites to become top scorer above, as they delivered the goals they were expected to, but one of the pre-tournament favourites did not. Many believed Cristiano Ronaldo could challenge near the top of the scoring chart, especially considering all the talent in the Portuguese team, but after the match against DR Congo, it is probably time to accept that time has caught up with the 41-year-old. Ronaldo no longer has the speed, movement or spring to perform at the very highest level of football. It still works for him in a league such as the Saudi one, but not when he faces the very best.Whether it is right to let Ronaldo continue as a starter for Portugal is something many are now speculating about, as many believe he is dragging the team down rather than lifting it. He can, however, celebrate the fact that, with this match, he became the second player to appear in six different World Cup tournaments, together with Messi as already mentioned.
Lamine Yamal's substitute appearance did not save Spain
The Shocks of the Round
We leave the goalscorers behind and take a look at the unexpected results we had in the first round.The biggest shock is the one we mentioned at the start of the article, the match between Spain and Cape Verde that ended 0-0. Spain, together with France, are the biggest favourites to win the World Cup, but this match showed what the Spaniards lack in their squad - a truly sharp goalscorer. It was, admittedly, mainly the creativity that failed rather than the finishing, and they also rested their superstar Lamine Yamal (although he did make a 25-minute substitute appearance). But it is not unusual for tournament winners to start slowly. Argentina lost to Saudi Arabia in their first match at the previous World Cup, and when Spain won the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, they lost their opening match, so perhaps it is positive for Spain that they have already had their weaker match in the tournament.
Many see Switzerland as something of an outsider in this World Cup, but they had a tough time against Qatar and only came away with a 1-1 draw. Breel Embolo made it 1-0 to the Swiss in the 17th minute, and they had full control of the match against a Qatar side that did little but defend. Switzerland should have killed the match off, as chances were certainly not lacking, but instead Qatar went forward in an attack in the 94th minute and shocked everyone by finding an equaliser with a header (a goal that was later changed to an own goal). Perhaps it was a bit of underestimation, and the apparent control they had, that cost Switzerland, so it is a little too early to write them off.
Another team seen as an outsider is Turkey, but they suffered a surprising 2-0 defeat to Australia. It should not be said that Australia won purely through luck, but based on the chances, Turkey should not have lost this match. However, where the Turks showed major inefficiency, the Australians showed the opposite.
The final shock we bring up is a match we have already touched on when writing about Ronaldo, and that is Portugal's 1-1 result against DR Congo. Portugal, who are considered one of the teams with a realistic chance of winning the World Cup, were expected to take a comfortable victory against the Africans, but that is not what happened. João Neves did give Portugal the lead with a header as early as the 6th minute, but after that, not much worked for the Portuguese. Yoane Wissa equalised in added time with the final kick of the first half, and the fact is that this became a match DR Congo could very well have won.
How Did the Debutants Do?
Ahead of the World Cup, we looked at the teams that were set to play in their very first World Cup finals, and we finish by checking how they got on.First up among the debutants were Curaçao, and as expected, they had nothing to put up against the Germans, resulting in a painful 7-1 defeat. We have already touched on this match when discussing Kai Havertz, as we mentioned that Curaçao had made it 1-1, in fact all the way until the 38th minute, but they collapsed in the second half as they could no longer cope with Germany's tempo.
The next newcomer was Cape Verde, who faced Spain, and that match has also already been mentioned. Cape Verde produced the biggest shock of the round when they managed to earn a 0-0 result, a result they can of course be proud of even if they did not show much attacking play of their own.
Next in line were Jordan, who faced Austria in their first ever World Cup match. Austria took the lead as expected in the 21st minute, but at the start of the second half Jordan equalised through Ali Olwan, and they looked to be on their way to pulling off a shock in their World Cup debut. However, they did not manage to hold out all the way, instead conceding both an own goal and a penalty goal, and therefore losing 3-1.
Last up were Uzbekistan, who took on Colombia, and this match had many similarities, at least in terms of the scoreline, with Jordan's match. The South Americans went into the half-time break with a 1-0 lead, but Uzbekistan managed to find an equaliser in the 60th minute. The feeling that they might be on their way to a shock did not last long, however, as Luis Díaz made it 2-1 to the Colombians just five minutes later, and they also scored 3-1 in added time.