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06/22 23:25 CDT Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbapp and Erling Haaland dazzle on same
day at the World Cup
Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbapp and Erling Haaland dazzle on same day at the World
Cup
By STEPHEN WHYNO
AP Sports Writer
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) --- After Lionel Messi scored two goals to set the
World Cup record and Kylian Mbapp kept pace in the career chase, Erling
Haaland delivered another dazzling performance on a showcase day for the
tournament's top stars.
Haaland scored twice for Norway in the first 15 minutes of the second half of a
3-2 win over Senegal on Monday night, making up for clanking a shot off the
post and getting denied on a header just before halftime. His performance came
hours after Messi scored two for Argentina and Mbapp did the same for France.
Teammate Kristian Thorstvedt called Haaland a big-game player who lives for
these moments. Roughly a month away from his 26th birthday, Haaland is showing
he can keep up with some of soccer's more experienced stars while playing on a
team without the same pedigree or championship history.
"He is the best striker," coach Stle Solbakken said through an interpreter.
"He is not playing for France or Argentina. He scores for Norway."
The three have combined to score 13 goals in the World Cup: five for Messi and
four each for Mbapp and Haaland in the race for the Golden Boot, which Iraq
coach Graham Arnold predicted will be a very good competition between them.
"It's easier to win the Golden Boot when you play for France and Argentina,"
Solbakken said. "But we'll try to give Erling more games and more help in the
next games."
Messi became the World Cup's career scoring leader with 18 goals when he and
Argentina beat Austria in Arlington, Texas. Mbapp is now at 16, tied with
former record holder Miroslav Klose, after he and France beat Iraq 3-0 in
Philadelphia.
Playing in his first World Cup, Haaland is at four. Norway last qualified in
1998 --- two years before he was born.
"Let's be happy, every single Norwegian on the planet," Haaland said. "I'm part
of something special. Norway's part of something special. We're making history."
The 6-foot-5 Manchester City striker has now scored in 12 consecutive
competitive matches for Norway. He has 24 goals over that stretch, and the last
time Haaland did not score for Norway in a game that mattered was Oct. 13, 2024.
"He's on fire," Solbakken said. "I'm very happy for him that he can score on
the biggest stage."
Haaland had the fewest touches of anyone on either team in the first half,
getting guarded tightly by an opponent that knew just how important it was to
contain him. Still, Solbakken pointed out that Haaland missed an open net and
"could have scored even four."
"He's one of the best strikers in the world," Senegal's Ismail Jakobs said. "We
used part of the game making some things very difficult to start with (for
him), as you could see."
Then Haaland found his footing on a wet surface at the Meadowlands that had
been deluged by rain.
He scored his first goal on a 4-on-2 rush, putting behind him the frustration
from earlier. After getting his second by banking a right-footed shot off the
crossbar and in, Haaland held his left hand up to his left ear to encourage
cheers of a large contingent of red-clad fans who chanted, "Nor-ge! Nor-ge!"
and performed their signature Viking rowing celebration in the stands.
Asked how he was doing it, Haaland struggled to come up with an explanation.
"I don't know," Haaland said. "It's my specialty to score goals. It's like many
other things: I'm just really good at scoring goals, and I'm quite lucky. I
don't know what I'm doing, but yeah. That's just how it is."
___
AP Soccer Writer James Robson in Atlanta and AP Sports Writer Dan Gelston in
Philadelphia contributed to this report.
___
AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/FIFA-World-Cup
