Messi, Mbappé and Haaland shine as stars come out to play

It didn't take long for Lionel Messi to make his mark at this World Cup.

The Argentine magician had the ball in the back of the net in just the fifth minute of his side's clash against Algeria, calmly slotting home after a through ball.

It was offside. Not by much, barely a fraction, but enough.

But that barely mattered to a crowd hopelessly bewitched by a virulent case of Messi-mania.

And in any case, they didn't have to wait long to truly explode in a bout of uninhibited euphoria.

Playing his 200th international for Argentina, Messi was roared every time the ball came near him, with stands that so often echo to the raucous energy of the Kansas City Chiefs supporters instead overtaken by a white and blue fiesta of idolatry.

Messi can do no wrong to these fans — not that he often does.

So their delight when they saw it was Messi who took the ball up 30 metres from goal, set off towards the penalty area before powering a shot into the top corner was as visceral and total as you could imagine it would be.

They were just as happy when he pounced on a loose ball to score a second in the second half.

When he powered home a long-range third? Well, there is simply no matching the ovation he received from 69,000 fans in Kansas City.

This is what so many of them came to see.

This is what an American World Cup was desperate for: Their own adopted son, billeted in the MLS since his 2023 move from Europe, scoring a hat-trick — his first at a World Cup — on the global stage.

Another exceptional moment in an exceptional career.

The World Cup means many different things to many different people.

For some, the unforgettable moments fall closer to the delight sparked by moments of shock, be it Livano Comenencia's stunning strike that drew tiny Curaçao level with Germany or any number of the phenomenal saves made by 40-year-old Cabo Verde goalkeeper Vozinha that held Spain at bay.

But in a sporting marketplace where individuality is increasingly prized above all else, moments like the ones we were served on Wednesday stand above all.

Kylian Mbappé scoring a double for France: The first a gorgeous finish after a slide-rule pass by Michael Olise, the second by banging a worldy of the highest quality into the top corner from 20 metres out to seal a 3-1 victory against Senegal.

Erling Haaland powered home two of his own home as Norway beat Iraq 4-1, both a result of his incessant, relentless strength up front.

Lionel Messi simply existing, while also scoring a banger of his own and a poacher's finish to give him a brace to match his fellow superstars.

This is what those supporters are here for, their nations' biggest stars shining brightest on the biggest stage of all.

Haaland may be playing in his first World Cup but it's no surprise that he was on the scoresheet.

He has been the winner of the Golden Boot as top goal scorer in three of the past four seasons in the English Premier League, scored 16 goals in 8 World Cup qualifying matches, double the tally of anyone else in UEFA, and has 57 goals in 51 international contests for Norway, scoring in his past 11 competitive matches.

"It was not easy to be a debutant, you're nervous, and to win on a not-so-good day is great," Haaland told reporters after the match.

"To win 4-1 on an average day is absolutely huge for all of us. It's fantastic and I'm proud of all of us."

For Mbappé, such a positive display was less certain, particularly after a pitiful performance in the first half in which France, the favourites to go one better than four years ago and win their third World Cup trophy suffocated by their own pre-eminence.

Because as highly fancied as France are, there are questions.

Their squad is among the strongest in the competition but, with so much focus on their brightest star, the others are at risk of being dimmed by association.

Football, for all the emphasis on a handful of big names, is still a team game.

And while Mbappé's talent is unquestioned, his ability to play well with others is under the microscope in Spain, where he has been charged, justly or unjustly, as the key reason why Real Madrid have failed to win a major trophy in their last two seasons, coincidentally since his arrival from Paris St Germain.

PSG, incidentally, won the Champions League the year after Mbappé left, while Madrid won it the year before he arrived, an unfortunate statistic.

His first-half performance gave plenty of ammo to his critics after he was just one of the French players to give a listless, uninterested display.

"If he wants to miss the first half and score two goals in the second that's OK with me," France coach Didier Dechamps said.

Deschamps had to deliver a "frank" assessment to his team at the half-time break and, in the second period, they were a team reborn, sparked in part by Mbappé's brilliance.

"People will still criticise him but he's an iconic player, I've always said that," Dechamps said of Mbappé, who scored two sensational goals in the second half.

"With one action he is able to tip the scales and bring his team to victory."

The two goals were enough to make Mbappé France's all-time leading scorer with 58. He is also the joint third-highest goal-scorer in World Cup history, level with West Germany legend Gerd Müller and two behind joint-leader Miroslav Klose.

The player level with Klose? Messi, who else?

Before Argentina's opening game, Lionel Scaloni said Messi was "fundamental" to Argentina's side.

"He has always been there," Scaloni said.

"He has always been fundamental for us. And now even more so."

Perhaps so.

His three goals were enough to get Argentina off to a winning start, the stars not only shining brightest, but aligning spectacularly.

As he pressed for his first-ever World Cup hat-trick, the crowd chanted Messi's name, a two-syllable homage to one of the greatest of all time, even when denied by a brilliant save by Luca Zidane in the Algerian goal.

When he got his third, the joy was overwhelming.

When he was substituted off, the joint highest goal-scorer of all time at World Cups, the standing ovation was spectacular.

Despite the sun long having set over the vast plains of the American mid-west, the darkened sky exposed by Arrowhead Stadium's open bowl, the only visible stars were on the pitch.

And Messi's shined brightest of all, just for a little bit longer.

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