Lionel Messi. . Erling Haaland.
It’s a very starry Monday for the .
Messi and Argentina face David Alaba and Austria in their second Group J game. Mbapp茅 leads France into its Group I matchup with Iraq, and Haaland is back in action as Norway takes on Senegal. Ali Olwan and Jordan play Algeria in the last Group J game of the day.
Messi scored three times in Argentina’s over Algeria in their tournament opener. The Argentines are looking to defend their .
France, which lost to Argentina in the 2022 final, opened with against Senegal. Mbapp茅 scored twice in the win.
Messi, who turns 39 on Wednesday, is tied with Germany鈥檚 Miroslav Klose for the most goals in the men’s World Cup at 16. Ronaldo is second with 15, followed by Mbapp茅 and Gerd M眉ller in a tie for fourth with 14 apiece.
Haaland, another high-scoring striker, had two goals in over Iraq in their first game. Haaland scored 27 goals in 35 Premier League games for Manchester City this past season.
Jordan is looking for its first World Cup point after losing its debut match against Austria. The Jordanians are back at Levi鈥檚 Stadium to take on Algeria, which advanced out of group stage once in four previous World Cup trips, losing in the round of 16 to Germany in 2014.
What to watch on June 22
鈥擜rgentina vs. Austria, 1 p.m. EDT in Arlington, Texas (Fox/Telemundo/Peacock)
鈥擣rance vs. Iraq, 5 p.m. EDT in Philadelphia (Fox/Telemundo/Peacock)
鈥擭orway vs. Senegal, 8 p.m. EDT in East Rutherford, New Jersey (Fox/Telemundo/Peacock)
鈥擩ordan vs. Algeria, 11 p.m. EDT in Santa Clara, California (FS1/Telemundo/Peacock)
Posch ready to go for Austria
Austria defender Stefan Posch will be available against Argentina after breaking his jaw in the country’s .
Coach Ralf Rangnick said Sunday that Posch, who went through full training the day before the match, had to go to Los Angeles twice to get fitted for a protective brace that will allow him to play despite the injury.
鈥淗e is ready to play tomorrow just like every and any other player,鈥� Rangnick said through an interpreter. 鈥淭hen we will see if he will start tomorrow, or maybe he will be brought in during the match.鈥�
Posch injured his jaw after colliding with a Jordanian player in Austria鈥檚 3-1 win in its Group J opener on Tuesday in Santa Clara, California. It was initially feared that the 29-year-old Mainz defender would miss the rest of the World Cup.
Senegal coach pondering some changes for matchup with Norway
Senegal coach Pape Thiaw is keeping quiet when it comes to potential changes for his team鈥檚 game against Norway.
鈥淎m I going to shake things up a bit? Well, you鈥檒l find this out,鈥� Thiaw said through an interpreter at a news conference Sunday.
Senegal played a tough first half against France on Tuesday before going on to a 3-1 loss. 脡douard Mendy allowed three goals on eight shots in that game, which included moments after Senegal finally got on the board in stoppage time.
Reserve goalkeeper Mory Diaw accompanied Thiaw to the news conference, but denied his appearance may indicate he would start in place of Mendy.
Senegal has only Iraq left to play after facing Norway in Group I, so the Lions of Teranga are treating their second game as if it is a must-win final.
鈥淲e鈥檙e in a very tough group; we knew this coming in,鈥� Thiaw said. 鈥淲e obviously lost the first one, but there鈥檚 everything left to play for. We cannot get this wrong.鈥�
More World Cup news
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Stats of the day
Lamine Yamal scored Spain’s first goal in over Saudi Arabia. At 18 years, 343 days, Yamal became the eighth-youngest player to score during a men’s World Cup match.
Spain is beaten in 32 games (23 wins) since a loss to Colombia in a friendly in March 2024.
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