France beats Senegal as Mbappé makes history and Messi shines for Argentina

Didier Deschamps needed a spark. He found it in the dressing room.

France’s World Cup campaign began with a 3-1 win over Senegal, but this was no procession. It took a bold reshuffle at half-time from the France manager to tilt a tense opener, and it took Kylian Mbappé to drag the night firmly into his orbit.

By the final whistle, Mbappé had scored twice, France had their first three points, and the 25-year-old sat alone as his country’s all-time leading scorer on 58 goals. A landmark reached not with ceremony, but with the ruthless efficiency that now defines him.

Deschamps pulls the levers

The first half left France flat. Senegal’s organisation and aggression choked the game, forcing Les Bleus into predictable patterns and slow circulation. Deschamps, rarely one to indulge chaos, reacted.

The changes at the interval were not cosmetic. France pushed higher, moved the ball quicker into the channels, and finally stretched Senegal’s back line. The tempo shifted. So did the mood.

The pressure finally told. Mbappé, lurking on the shoulder as ever, found his moments. One finish to break the deadlock, another to kill the contest. Clinical, cold, inevitable.

With those two strikes he stepped past the previous national record and into outright first place. No penalty-padding, no late-career stat-chasing. Just a forward at the peak of his powers, rewriting history in real time.

France added a third to put the game beyond doubt, while Senegal’s resistance faded into frustration. The 3-1 scoreline felt comfortable by the end, but it had been carved out of a stubborn, awkward contest that demanded solutions, not slogans.

Deschamps provided them.

Messi answers in kind

On another continent, another era-defining No. 10 offered his own reminder that he is not done shaping tournaments.

Lionel Messi hit a hat-trick for Argentina against Algeria, a performance that crackled with the old authority. The touches were sharp, the movement clever, the finishing merciless. Argentina didn’t just win; they shone, riding the rhythm of their captain’s left foot.

Every time Messi bends a game to his will now, it comes with an extra layer: how long can he keep doing this? On this evidence, the answer still unsettles opponents.

The ripple effect is obvious. Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal have watched this duel from opposite sides of Europe for nearly two decades. Messi’s treble ramps up the tension again, casting a long shadow over Portugal’s upcoming clash with DR Congo on Wednesday.

Ronaldo doesn’t need reminders, but he has one anyway. Mbappé is tearing up national records, Messi is still stacking hat-tricks, and the stage now waits for Portugal’s captain.

France have their win. Argentina have their statement. The question now is simple: how will Ronaldo respond?