From The Sports Desk: What will Messi, Mbapp and Haaland do for an encore?

Last week, Argentina’s Lionel Messi, France’s Kylian Mbappé and Norway’s Erling Haaland scored a combined seven goals on the same day.They are all in action again today.
Call in sick to work, cancel your plans and turn on Peacock.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.This might be one of the best days of the tournament.
The NBC News team will be live-blogging all the games, and we’ll make sure you don’t miss a thing.World Cup RecapMohamed Salah has finally made his mark at the World Cup, scoring and assisting in Egypt’s 3-1 win over New Zealand, his nation’s first win in the competition.The Pharaohs moved to the top of the standings in Group G with the win but are still not yet assured a spot in the knockout round.
They play a decider against Iran on Friday in Seattle, needing at least a draw to advance.Mohamed Salah, left, of Egypt scores his team's second goal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group G match against New Zealand on June 21.Alex Grimm / Getty ImagesIran, too, can still advance to the knockout round — something it has never done in six previous World Cup appearances, dating back to 1978.It registered a second point of the competition in a goalless draw against Belgium, which had 23 shots on goal but had Nathan Ngoy sent off in the second half and had to finish the game with 10 players.Cape Verde followed up their surprise draw against Spain by holding two-time champions Uruguay to a 2-2 draw in Miami.
Spain trounced Saudi Arabia 4-0, Lamine Yamal becoming only the second player 18 or younger to open the scoring in a FIFA World Cup match, following in the footsteps of Pelé in 1958.World Cup PreviewIf you only tune in for one day of group stage action, perhaps make it today: Messi aims to surpass Germany’s Miroslav Klose’s 16 goals to become the World Cup’s all-time leading scorer.Mbappé of France, Messi’s former teammate at Paris Saint-Germain, has 14 goals, ha...