After a Monday in which every match drew, Tuesday handed the tournament a tidy reset. The four seeded sides on Day 6 each won their opener. France edged Senegal 2-1 at MetLife. Norway dispatched Iraq 2-0 with Erling Haaland scoring on his first World Cup appearance. Argentina ground Algeria down 1-0 at Arrowhead in the first competitive Albiceleste match since Lionel Messi's international retirement. Austria saw off Jordan 2-1 to round out the night in Santa Clara. The picture in Groups I and J is clearer than the rest of the bracket already.
France 2-1 Senegal
Didier Deschamps got the opening twenty minutes he wanted and nothing else. Kylian Mbappé opened the scoring in the eleventh minute, cutting in from the left half-space onto his right foot and driving low past Édouard Mendy at the near post. Ousmane Dembélé made it 2-0 just before the half-hour, finishing a slick Tchouaméni-to-Camavinga-to-Dembélé sequence that ran through the centre of the pitch. From there Senegal grew into the contest.
Pape Matar Sarr halved the deficit in the 64th minute with a beautifully struck volley from the edge of the box after Ibrahima Konaté half-cleared a corner. The final twenty-five minutes were uncomfortable. Nicolas Jackson missed a header from six yards in the 81st that should have been the equaliser, and Mike Maignan made a strong reaction save from Iliman Ndiaye in stoppage time. France take the three points, which is what they came for, but the defensive structure Deschamps has been promising still looks like something the team is rehearsing in real time.
Norway 2-0 Iraq
The Haaland coronation arrived faster than Norway dared hope. Antonio Nusa scampered down the left in the eighth minute, cut a ball back to the penalty spot, and Haaland's first World Cup touch was a side-footed finish into the bottom corner. The Gillette crowd, half of which had travelled from Brooklyn and Minneapolis to see exactly that goal, went up for it. Martin Ødegaard ran the midfield with an unfussy authority for the next hour. Norway never looked threatened.
Nusa added the second in the 71st minute from a Haaland cushioned lay-off at the top of the area, a low strike that Jalal Hassan got a hand to but could not keep out. Iraq played the dogged, patient game Jesús Casas had drilled into them and were the better side for ten minutes in the second half, but never carved out a high-quality opportunity. Aymen Hussein had Iraq's best moment, a header from a Zidane Iqbal cross that drifted wide of the far post. Norway's pre-tournament status as a dark-horse pick survives the first matchday intact.
Argentina 1-0 Algeria
The tightest result of the day, and the one that asked the most of its winner. Lionel Scaloni's new-look Argentina spent the first half struggling for rhythm against a deep, compact Algeria back line. Rodrigo De Paul, the new captain, was the difference. In the 53rd minute De Paul drove fifty yards through the middle of the pitch, slipped a pass through a closing window to Lautaro Martínez, and the Inter striker turned a defender and finished low across Raïs M'Bolhi. The goal was simple. The build-up was anything but.
Algeria pressed for an equaliser the way Vladimir Petković had planned, with Riyad Mahrez drifting in from the right and Saïd Benrahma squaring up the back four. Cristian Romero produced two blocks inside the final fifteen minutes, the second on a Benrahma drive that looked goal-bound from the moment it left his foot. Argentina hold the three points. Scaloni walked off the pitch looking like a man who had survived more than he had won.
Austria 2-1 Jordan
The late window did exactly what Ralf Rangnick wanted for the opening thirty-five minutes. Marcel Sabitzer headed Austria in front from a Konrad Laimer corner in the 22nd minute, and David Alaba's free-kick six minutes before the break doubled the lead off the underside of the bar. Jordan, to their credit, refused to settle. Mousa Tamari pulled one back in the 58th minute, beating Alexander Schlager from the penalty spot after a Maximilian Wöber challenge that Rangnick disputed for the rest of the night.
The final half-hour went the way of the lower-ranked side. Austria tired, Jordan pressed, and Hussein Al-Saidi had the chance to equalise in the 84th from a corner that Schlager just got fingertips to. The result holds, but the pattern Rangnick built this team to deliver — high press for ninety minutes — visibly frayed after the seventieth. The squad-depth conversation in Austria starts on Wednesday morning.
What it means for Matchday 2
Two groups, four favourites, four wins. Groups I and J are the tidiest looking blocks of the bracket so far. The Matchday 2 fixtures that immediately matter:
- France vs Norway — the Group I marquee, and one of the most-anticipated matches of the entire first round. The winner books a Round of 32 ticket. The loser flirts with third place.
- Senegal vs Iraq — a winner-takes-the-third-place lane fixture between two teams who came into the tournament chasing it.
- Argentina vs Austria — Scaloni against Rangnick, the most distinct tactical contrast of the round. The first proper test of whether the Argentine midfield can break a high press without Messi turning the screw.
- Algeria vs Jordan — the loser is essentially out.
Day 7 brings Portugal and England into the tournament and closes the curtain on group openers. Live scores and group tables on the Scorelisto soccer hub, with the Day 7 preview already up on the blog index.
FAQ
How many goals did Haaland score? One, his first at a World Cup. Nusa, who set him up for the opener, got the second from a Haaland assist.
Who took the Argentina captaincy? Rodrigo De Paul, confirmed by Scaloni before the tournament and worn in the opener. Lautaro Martínez and Cristian Romero are the deputies.
Was Mbappé playing centrally? The starting XI had Mbappé nominally on the left of a front three, but he drifted centrally throughout the match. The opening goal came from a left-channel run.
Where does the bracket sit now? Through Matchday 6 the tournament is roughly half through its first round of fixtures. Updated standings, projected Round of 32 brackets and live fixture pages all on the Scorelisto soccer hub.