Argentina, France and Norway advance to the knockout stages as Messi, Mbappe and Haaland continue to shine, scoring a brace each in their second fixtures of the group stage in a tightly contested race for the World Cup Golden Boot.
Groups I and J completed their second group stage matches at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Monday and early on Tuesday, in what has quickly become a heated race for the tournament’s Golden Boot Award as the World’s biggest stars continue to deliver on the biggest stage and tally up their goals.
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All-time great and seasoned veteran Lionel Messi is currently leading the charge with an impressive five goal tally across two games, but youngsters Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland are not too far behind, who sit at four goals apiece.
Four matches took place late on Monday and into the early hours of Tuesday, here is an overview of those fixtures.
Argentina v Austria
Messi led his white and blue stripes to another win as Argentina dodged an Austria challenge and came out ahead 2-0 to seal their ticket to the knockout stage with one game still in hand.
The superstar Argentine had the chance to score early on, and maybe bag a second consecutive hat trick, but a missed penalty in the 8th minute of the game had his side on a shaky start.
The reigning 2022 World Cup champions recovered quickly however as Messi rectified his mistake and opened the scoring in the 38th minute with a beautifully placed shot straight into the bottom left corner, beating the keeper with ease.
Both teams continued to trade chances late into the first half and the entirety of the second half but to no avail, despite coming daringly close on a few occasions.
It wasn’t until the 95th minute where Messi, after having his first shot blocked, was able to chase the ball back down off the deflection and powerfully force it into the back of the net to give his side a 2-0 win, and earn them another three points, guaranteeing their advancement to the next stage of the tournament.
Messi’s brace extended his World Cup goal record, which he broke with a hat trick in his first match, to an impressive 18 goals. He currently remains as Argentina’s sole goalscorer in the 2026 World Cup.
France v Iraq
A star-studded France made easy work of their Group I opponents, Iraq, in their second matchday fixture, cruising past them 3-0 despite thunderstorms in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, suspending play for two hours at the halftime mark, and forcing tens of thousands of fans to evacuate the stadium to seek shelter.
Real Madrid and Les Bleus’ talisman Kylian Mbappe opened the scoring inside the first 15 minutes of the game, as he too looks to challenge Messi for the all-time World Cup goalscoring record.
A quick one-two with Bayern Munich’s young star Michael Olise just outside the box left Mbappe in acres of space, where he fired a weak leg shot towards the top left corner of the goal, beating keeper Ahmed Basil in impressive fashion.
Heavy rain quickly started to pour into the grounds soon after, disrupting France’s momentum, though Mbappe still managed to fire a few more shots and look threatening, arguably more than the weather.
Play was suspended as players headed to the dressing room after the referee blew the whistle to indicate the end of the first half.
Hours later, the action once again resumed after authorities lifted evacuation warnings in the area, and it didn’t take long for the 2022 World Cup runners-up and 2018 champions to find their footing.
A mistake by defender Zaid Tahseen and keeper Basil was quickly pounced on by current Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele, who laid the ball sideways to Mbappe, slotting in an easy goal into the open net to score his second of the night in the 54th minute.
Mbappe’s brace brought his own World Cup goal tally to a total of 16, just two behind Messi.
PSG’s Dembele found the net for France once more after two earlier chances by him, Adrien Rabiot and Olise failed to produce goals.
The Paris-based forward found the back of the net in the 66th minute, after executing a beautiful turn to create space from the defender, and placed the ball into the bottom left corner, with it sealing France’s ticket to the elimination stage of the tournament.
Norway v Senegal
Norway produced another powerful performance in their second match of the tournament, where they’re making their first appearance in 28 years.
The team led by Manchester City’s elite striker Erling Haaland and Arsenal star midfielder Martin Odegaard overcame their African challengers 3-2 in their Group I clash to match France at six points, and also book their ticket to the next round.
Norway came close to scoring early on from a corner kick, but a determined Edouard Mendy was able to stop Kristoffer Ajer’s header on the line.
Minutes later, the Norwegian side once again had a wide-open chance for the taking after the ball was crossed into the box to Haaland, who laid it off to an open Odegaard.
The midfielder and recent Premier League champion took a quick outside of the foot shot on the volley, but keeper Mendy once again rose to the challenge and blocked the shot.
It was however soon after that Norway was able to open the scoring after right back Marcus Holmgren Pedersen snatched a loose ball following an error from a Senegalese defender in clearing it on the edge of the box, and fired a powerful shot into the bottom right corner in the 43rd minute.
The Senegalese side, who were recently overturned as champions of Africa following a decision to disqualify them due to a protest walk-out mid-match, conceded early into the second half after Haaland was through on goal in the 48th and finished with a stunning top right corner shot, making the score 2-0.
Senegal’s forward Ismaila Sarr was able to pull one back shortly after, as he fought his way into the Norwegian box and slotted the ball in past the keeper.
Haaland, who needs no invitation to score, quickly responded, bagging his second of the night and fourth goal of the tournament in two games, after converting from a cross into the box in the 58th to make it 3-1.
Senegal, looking to gain a point after losing 3-1 to France a week ago, continued to press high into Norway’s defensive third, where they were ultimately able to find a second in the 95th minute of the fixture to make the score 3-2. They currently sit in third place in the group and are tied with Iraq at 0 points.
Norway will next play France and Senegal is set to face-off with Iraq in the final matchday of the group stages in the coming days.
Algeria v Jordan
Algeria scored off two corner kicks in the second half to rally from an early deficit and defeat Jordan 2-1 on Monday night to bolster its chances of advancing to the knockout round of the World Cup.
Second-half substitute Nadhir Benbouali headed in a corner kick in the 69th minute and Amine Gouiri provided the game-winner in the 82nd to give Algeria its first win at the World Cup since 2014.
The Jordanians had taken the lead for the first time at a World Cup on a first-half goal by Nizar al-Rashdan but couldn’t withstand the continuous pressure from Algeria in the second half.
This marked the first time Algeria had ever won a World Cup game after conceding the first goal. They had seven losses and two draws previously when that happened.
Algeria bounced back after a 3-0 to Argentina in its opening game and can finish second in Group J — and clinch a spot in the knockout round — with a win on Saturday against Austria.
The match is a painful one to swallow for Jordan however, who have been eliminated from the competition, and are due to square off with a dominant Argentina for the final match of their campaign.