The first round of World Cup games across the United States produced immediate storylines, from Lionel Messi rolling back the years to Cape Verde shutting down Spain and near-capacity crowds filling major stadiums.
Messi scored a hat-trick against Algeria in Kansas City, with two thunderous strikes and a poacher's finish that took him level with Miroslav Klose's all-time World Cup record of 16 goals. France forward Kylian Mbappe is two goals behind after scoring twice in the opening round, while Erling Haaland also scored twice as the Golden Boot race started fast. Messi faces Austria on Monday with a chance to claim the record outright.
In the end, it's just a statistic and nothing more.
Messi said regarding his World Cup goal record.
Portugal labored to a 1-1 draw with the Democratic Republic of Congo in Houston as Cristiano Ronaldo was largely a bystander in his sixth World Cup. His 25 touches were reportedly his fewest in a full major tournament match for Portugal, and he has now gone 10 consecutive games at major tournaments without a goal.
Cape Verde held European champions Spain to a 0-0 draw in Atlanta on their World Cup debut, with 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinha breaking down in tears after a standout performance. His Instagram following reportedly jumped from about 50,000 before the match to nearly 13 million afterward.
Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara drew an official attendance of 68,527 for Austria against Jordan. FIFA said 281,223 fans passed through turnstiles on Tuesday, surpassing the previous single-day World Cup record of 277,070 set on June 28, 1994.
Refereeing also shifted quickly. Three players were sent off in Mexico's 2-0 opening win over nine-man South Africa, but no player was dismissed in the matches that followed as FIFA reportedly pushed officials to be more prudent with red cards.
