Goal machines Messi, Haaland and Mbappe give their teams perfect starts

Superstars shone in Tuesday's World Cup matches, with soccer greats Lionel Messi of Argentina, Norway's Erling Haaland and Frenchman ​Kylian Mbappe scoring for fun.

From Messi's hat-trick against Algeria, Haaland's ‌double versus Iraq and Mbappe's brace against Senegal, Tuesday's matches offered some succour to those backing the favourites.

Messi is in the twilight of his ​career after moving to Major League Soccer in 2023, Haaland lost ​form in the middle of the Premier League season, and ⁠Mbappe suffered a dip in the second half of his La Liga ​campaign.

None of that applied on Tuesday, with all three players taking their ​chances to find the net.

Mbappe saved France from a subpar performance with his second-half strikes against Senegal, who were often the more dynamic before his first goal in the ​last third of the match.

His second, which hurtled into the net, made ​him France's all-time top scorer with 58, surpassing Olivier Giroud, as his side claimed ‌a ⁠3-1 win.

Haaland, a dominant presence in English football who had struggled to score in the middle of the season, showed his predatory instincts to help his team to a 4-1 victory.

But in the day's penultimate match it ​was Messi who showed ​why he is ⁠considered by many to be the best player on the planet.

Despite being past his peak, with his 39th ​birthday coming up, he scored his first World Cup ​hat-trick in ⁠a 3-0 win.

Messi is now level with World Cup record scorer Miroslav Klose on 16 goals. His first at a finals was scored on this date ⁠20 ​years ago, when he was 18.

On Wednesday, more ​scoring machines take to the pitch, with England's Harry Kane and Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo fronting ​their nations' efforts to start the tournament with a win.