Messi hat-trick leads Argentina as France, Norway win on Day 6
The sixth day of the FIFA World Cup saw several tournament favorites make strong starts to their campaigns, with France, Norway and Argentina all securing convincing victories in their opening matches, reports a Qazinform News Agency correspondent.
In Group I, France began their quest for World Cup glory with a 3-1 win over Senegal. Didier Deschamps' side were led by Kylian Mbappé, who scored twice, finding the net in the 66th minute and again deep into stoppage time to seal the victory.
Norway also made an impressive start, defeating Iraq 4-1 in the other Group I fixture. Erling Haaland starred for the Scandinavians with goals in the 29th and 43rd minutes as Norway moved level with France on three points.
Group J featured the long-awaited debut of defending world champions Argentina. After braces from Mbappé and Haaland earlier in the day, Lionel Messi delivered his own statement performance, scoring a hat-trick as Argentina cruised to a 3-0 victory over Algeria.
The results leave France and Norway level on three points in Group I, while Argentina sit atop Group J ahead of the remaining group-stage matches. The opening round also set up an early battle among three of football's biggest stars, with Messi, Mbappé and Haaland all making decisive contributions for their respective nations.
In Group J, Austria defeated Jordan 3-1 to make a winning start to their campaign. Romano Schmid opened the scoring in the 21st minute before Ali Olwan equalized shortly after halftime. Austria regained the lead when Jordan defender Yazan Alarab turned a corner into his own net, and veteran striker Marko Arnautović sealed the victory with a stoppage-time penalty.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that the fifth day of the FIFA World Cup ended without a winner in any of the four matches, as Groups G and H opened their campaigns with a series of draws.