Lionel Messi celebrates his record-breaking goal against Austria on Monday. —AFP/VNA Photos

Anh Đức & Thanh Hà

DALLAS — Lionel Messi has been immortalised in World Cup history books, after he broke Miroslav Klose's 12-year record to become the World Cup's all-time top scorer with 18 goals after his brace in Argentina's 2-0 victory against Austria on Monday.

Argentina's No.10 could have bagged a second consecutive hat-trick, had his early penalty in the ninth minute not been saved.

In the 38th minute, Messi opened the scoring with a trademark left-footed finish from just inside the penalty area.

Lionel Scaloni's team has faced just one shot on target this tournament. Austria, after conceding the opener, struggled to find control of the match and at times, resorted to fouls to reclaim possession.

Just as everyone thought the match was over, Messi doubled his tally and further established his goalscoring record in the 90th minute. He tried to create a chance for Julian Alvarez, but the former Man City man's shot rebounded to Messi, who fired the ball into the empty net.

France's forward Kylian Mbappe in action against Iraq at the Philadelphia Stadium on June 22.

Mbappe scores a brace, France cruise to the knockout round

Kylian Mbappe scored twice and Ousmane Dembele once as France eased past Iraq in the FIFA World Cup 2026's Group I match that was affected by a two-hour weather delay on June 23 in Philadelphia, USA.

Mbappe opened the scoring on his 100th appearance for France at the 13th minute.

After being played in by a short pass from Michael Olise, his drive from 18m brushed the fingertips of Iraqi keeper Ahmed Basil before finding the back of the net.

France continued to control and it was only their seeming desire to set up Mbappe at every opportunity to extend their lead.

Iraq had their hopes of clawing back into the game shattered when their top scorer Aymen Hussein was injured and replaced only 18 minutes into the game.

Players fight for the ball during the 2026 World Cup Group I football match between France and Iraq.

At the end of the first half, FIFA announced that due to adverse weather conditions in Philadelphia, including the risk of lightning in the vicinity of the stadium, the match was suspended.

After a delay of two hours and 11 minutes, it was resumed with France continuing to dominate in possession and territory.

Mbappe was gifted his second goal – the easiest in his career – as Basil couldn't control an overhit pass from Ahmed Qasem. The ball came to Dembele who squared for Mbappe to side foot home his fourth goal of the tournament.

About 13 minutes later, it was 3-0 for France after a smart pass from the outside of Olise's left boot found Dembele who hit the ball low into the far corner.

Haaland's double sends Norway through

Erling Haaland scored his second double in four days as Norway cruised to a 3-2 win over Senegal in the other match of Group I at the New York New Jersey Stadium in East Rutherford, USA.

Erling Haaland of Norway (right) is challenged by Kalidou Koulibaly of Senegal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group I match on June 22.

Norway went ahead in the 43rd minute when Kalidou Koulibaly failed to clear the ball in time, giving a chance for substitute Marcus Pedersen to drive into the box and beat Edouard Mendy with a firm shot, scoring his first international goal in 33 games.

Haaland, who struck the post before half-time, doubled the lead three minutes after the restart, running on to Martin Odegaard’s through ball and rifling into the top corner.

Ismaila Sarr pulled one back for Senegal just five minutes later, but not long after pulling a goal back, Patrick Berg set Haaland in a perfect position to volley in off the crossbar.

Sarr also secured his double in the additional time, but it was not enough for them to avoid the second loss of the tournament.

Norway will set up a mouth-watering group decider against France, while Senegal will face Iraq on June 26.

Algeria's Ibrahim Maza (centre), who is of Vietnamese descent, got his first ever World Cup victory in his tournament debut after winning 2-1 against Jordan.

Algeria eliminates Jordan with stunning comeback

Elsewhere in San Francisco, Algeria found their mojo back after a disappointing 3-0 opener loss against Argentina.

35-year-old Riyad Mahrez started for Vladimir Petkovic's team, with fans hoping that the Algerian veteran's inclusion would inspire a win.

Indeed it was Mahrez in the spotlight for Algeria in the first half, with two one-on-one chances to give Algeria the lead, but both were wasted.

Jordan shocked everyone by taking the lead in a counter-attack. The ball found Nizar Al Rashdan, who fired from just outside the box into the back of Luca Zidane's net.

Petkovic brought on Nabil Bentaleb and Nadir Benbouali in the second half, and the change worked as Benbouali equalised for the Algerians from Mahrez's corner in the 69th minute.

The pressure was increased by Algeria in the final minutes, and their efforts were fruitful as Amine Gouiri found the winning goal in the 82nd minute, again from a set piece. Although the goal went to VAR for an offside check, it was eventually confirmed and the Algerian fans in Levi's Stadium exploded in joy.

Algeria will face Austria in their final match in a decider, while Jordan will have a goodbye match against Messi's Argentina. — VNS