Messi extends his World Cup legacy while Ronaldo faces defining moment | OneFootball

As the 2026 FIFA World Cup begins to gather pace, the spotlight is falling on the game’s biggest names as records tumble and expectations continue to soar.

Defending champions Argentina have booked their knockout stage tickets with a game to spare alongside two-time winners France.

England will look to do the same today, while under-pressure Portugal bid to bounce back from a disappointing start.

Read on as we take a closer look at the stars stealing the headlines and the storylines shaping the tournament.

History in the making

Lionel Messi is on a mission. One of the best to ever do it continues to defy logic, scoring another brace to inspire La Albiceleste to a 2-0 win over Austria.

Despite missing an early penalty, La Pulga scored on either side of half-time, delivering another breathtaking performance after his hat-trick condemned Algeria to a 3-0 defeat in their first game.

He has put the burden of his country’s expectations on his shoulders and has no intention of slowing down, while there’s no living soul brave enough to dare believe he would stop anytime soon.

Messi has now scored all five of Argentina’s goals at the tournament, steering further away from Miroslav Klose and Kylian Mbappe on the World Cup’s all-time scoring charts.

Mbappe is also a gift that keeps on giving. He built on his double against Senegal with yet another brace as France thrashed Iraq 3-0.

Reluctant to let Messi waltz away with the Golden Boot, Mbappe picked up where he left off last week to draw level with Klose as the joint-second highest goalscorer in World Cup history with 16 goals.

Mbappe cannot stop scoring at World Cups. However, there’s a new boy in the hood.

Erling Braut Haaland is wasting no time in his maiden World Cup appearance. After a game-winning brace against Iraq, Manchester City’s goalscoring machine scored twice in a 3-2 win over Senegal.

However, his unfathomable lapse of concentration towards the end of the first half could go down as a ‘miss of the tournament’ as he could only hit the post despite standing in front of an empty net from just a few yards out.

Ronaldo, it’s your turn

The world was waiting for Cristiano Ronaldo’s response to Messi’s triple with bated breath. However, he was a marginal figure in Portugal’s dismal 1-1 draw against DR Congo last time out.

One of the most frustrating international matches for the highest-scoring player in international football exposed him to widespread criticism from fans and media alike, heightening the pressure on the Al-Nassr forward ahead of round two.

It was a weak performance from one of the greatest of all time. However, Ronaldo is a winner. He has shown that countless times throughout his illustrious career, and he’ll be keen to silence his detractors again, now more than ever.

With Portugal under pressure to take all three points against Uzbekistan, all eyes will be on the 41-year-old, who has a point to prove and wants to get his team’s title ambitions back on track.

There’s only a handful of players you would rather want leading your nation’s attack when the chips are down. So, would you dare to bet against Ronaldo?

Knowing the former Madrid talisman, he won’t go down without a fight.

Can Kane keep up with the pace?

Whatever Mbappe and Haaland can do, Harry Kane can do too. England’s captain scored twice in the opening 45 minutes as they humbled Croatia 4-2 in their Group D opener.

There’s a reason why many consider Kane the most complete striker in the world, and he refused to let the fans down on matchday one, putting on a show in Arlington.

A victory over Ghana would send England through to the knockout stage with a game to spare, and there’s little doubt Thomas Tuchel will put his side’s fate into the 30-year-old’s hands once again.

If there’s a man for the big occasion in this star-studded England team, it’s the former Tottenham Hotspur captain. With 81 international goals under his belt, Kane is the beating heart of this side.

England cannot afford to underestimate Ghana, who secured a late win over Panama courtesy of Caleb Yirenkyi’s 95th-minute winner.

Their only previous meeting with Ghana came in 2011, as they shared the spoils in a 1-1 friendly draw, while they have never lost a World Cup clash against African opposition, tallying five wins from eight such fixtures.

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Even Ronaldo can have a bad day, but if anyone deserves the benefit of the doubt, it’s him.

However, every move he makes today will be studied, documented and dissected under the microscope.

In other words, there’s no room for error, and who else would you rather want in these high-octane moments than the most prolific player of all time?

Moments like these are exactly when legends remind everyone why they earned that status in the first place.