{"id":2840,"date":"2026-06-17T10:41:26","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T10:41:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/?p=2840"},"modified":"2026-06-17T10:41:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T10:41:26","slug":"soccers-premier-goal-scorers-led-by-lionel-messi-show-up-to-the-world-cup-with-a-bang","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/?p=2840","title":{"rendered":"Soccer&#8217;s premier goal scorers, led by Lionel Messi, show up to the World Cup with a bang"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>In the lead-up to this World Cup, some people whispered:<br\/><\/p> <ul><\/ul> <div>\n<div>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium_large\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Screenshot of four video thumbnails.\" class=\"wp-image-2838\" height=\"359\" src=\"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/8a9ebabf71ac9ac9d404f035dc0a1a1b.png\" width=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/8a9ebabf71ac9ac9d404f035dc0a1a1b.png 768w, https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/8a9ebabf71ac9ac9d404f035dc0a1a1b-300x140.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n <div>\n<h3>Soccer Edition <\/h3>\n<h3>Soccer Edition: Watch World Cup highlights from across the NPR Network<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<!-- END CLASS=\"BUCKETBLOCK\" -->\n<\/div>\n<!-- END CLASS=\"BUCKET IMG\" -->\n<\/div>\n<!-- END ID=\"RESNX-S1-5861412-100\" CLASS=\"BUCKETWRAP INTERNALLINK INSETTWOCOLUMN INSET2COL \" -->\n<p>On Tuesday, as Argentina began defense of its World Cup championship, the doubters are no longer doubting.<\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/?p=2834\">\u2018Rejected\u2019: How federal prisons stonewall grievances and deny care for years<\/a><\/p> <p>Messi scored not one, not two, but three goals against Algeria in a 3-0 victory in the opening match of Group J in front of a capacity crowd of nearly 70,000 at Kansas City&#8217;s Arrowhead Stadium. <\/p> <p>In a remarkable career, Messi managed to do something that he&#8217;d not done before at the World Cup: a hat-trick. Twenty years to the day he scored his first World Cup goal, he moved into a tie for the all-time goal scoring lead with 16 (even with Germany&#8217;s Miroslav Klose).<\/p>\n<p>Messi&#8217;s three goals set up what&#8217;s expected to be a thrilling subplot to this World Cup: Who will win the Golden Boot award, given to the top goal scorer at every World Cup.<\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/?p=2815\">Trump\u2019s Iran agreement dominates G7 but big questions remain<\/a><\/p> <p>Like Messi, French superstar Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 had a standout day Tuesday, scoring twice in France&#8217;s 3-1 win over Senegal (he now has 14 World Cup goals overall, surpassing Brazilian great Pele, and tying for third place). Erling Haaland also tallied two goals in Norway&#8217;s 4-1 victory against Iraq. Other players with notable performances so far include Folarin Balogun of the U.S., New Zealand&#8217;s Elijah Just, and Germany&#8217;s Kai Havertz, who each have scored twice. <\/p> <div>\n<div>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium_large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The entrance to a Waffle House is seen on February 05, 2025 in Austin, Texas.\" class=\"wp-image-2839\" height=\"512\" src=\"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/abab889fba879b5546a4b8796b472baa-768x512.jpg\" width=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/abab889fba879b5546a4b8796b472baa-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/abab889fba879b5546a4b8796b472baa-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/abab889fba879b5546a4b8796b472baa.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n <div>\n<h3>Soccer Edition <\/h3>\n<h3>The World Cup reminds us that the way to a visitor&#8217;s heart &#8230; is through their stomach<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<!-- END CLASS=\"BUCKETBLOCK\" -->\n<\/div>\n<!-- END CLASS=\"BUCKET IMG\" -->\n<\/div>\n<!-- END ID=\"RESNX-S1-5861412-101\" CLASS=\"BUCKETWRAP INTERNALLINK INSETTWOCOLUMN INSET2COL \" -->\n<p>Several other stars are hoping to add their names to the Golden Boot scoreboard on Wednesday. Cristiano Ronaldo leads Portugal&#8217;s World Cup tournament opener against the Democratic Republic of Congo. At 41, it&#8217;s unclear how much playing time he&#8217;ll see. Also on Wednesday, Harry Kane of England and Croatia&#8217;s Luka Modri\u0107 square off in a Group L match of heavyweights.<\/p> <p>If the opening days of the 2026 World Cup are any indication, the goal scoring and records will keep getting broken.<\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/?p=2813\">With Iran deal, Trump told ships to \u2018start your engines.\u2019 That\u2019s not happening yet<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The World Cup might be less than a week old, but the goal scoring at this year&#8217;s tourney has been sublime. Argentina&#8217;s Lionel Messi netted three goals the same day France&#8217;s Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 scored two.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2835,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[458,315,766,765,248],"class_list":["post-2840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting","tag-fifa","tag-fifa-world-cup","tag-kylian-mbappe","tag-lionel-messi","tag-world-cup"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Soccer&#039;s premier goal scorers, led by Lionel Messi, show up to the World Cup with a bang - Best USA Movers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/?p=2840\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Soccer&#039;s premier goal scorers, led by Lionel Messi, show up to the World Cup with a bang - Best USA Movers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The World Cup might be less than a week old, but the goal scoring at this year&#039;s tourney has been sublime. 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