Месси продолжает свою легендарную карьеру на чемпионатах мира, а Роналду предстоит решающий момент.

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 punched knockout tickets with a game to spare, just like two-time winners France.

Beaten Euro 2024 finalists 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 looks like a guy on a mission. One of the best to ever do it continues to defy logic, with the numbers keep piling up for the Argentina hero, who scored another brace to inspire La Albiceleste to a 2-0 win over Austria.

Despite missing an early penalty, La Pulga found the net on either side of half-time, delivering another breathtaking performance after his hat-trick condemned Algeria to a 3-0 defeat on the opening day.

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.

In a similar fashion, Mbappe is a gift that keeps on giving, with the Real Madrid superstar building upon his day-one double over 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.

Like Messi, Mbappe cannot stop scoring at World Cups. Meanwhile, 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, yet the five-time Ballon d’Or winner 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.

In all fairness, 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 Los Blancos 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 the Three Lions 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 the Bayern Munich ace 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 rounds 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 skipper. With 81 international goals under his belt, Kane is the beating heart of this side.

Nevertheless, the Euro 2024 runners-up cannot afford to underestimate Ghana, who scooped up a late win over Panama on day one, courtesy of Caleb Yirenkyi’s 95th-minute winner.

England’s 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.

Top football stories

• How England hierarchy lost the stomach to bring down Ben Stokes
• Harry Kane is the World Cup star with a Tom Brady obsession and a dream of playing in the NFL
• L’Équipe apologises to Belgian footballer Jérémy Doku for presenter’s comments

Football Today features

• The biggest upsets of World Cup 2026 so far
• Doku controversy piles pressure on Belgium, France bid for early progression
• Nico Schlotterbeck ruled out for several months with ligament injury

What to watch

Flash news – 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 where legends tend to remind everyone why they earned that status in the first place.