World Cup 2026 LIVE: Lionel Messi hat-trick equals Miroslav Klose’s record as England build up to Croatia opener

“Tino has an injury of four or five weeks which is unfortunately too long to reintegrate him into the squad,” Tuchel said.

“We called Trevoh Chalobah because it frees up Jarrell Quansah to play full-back on both sides, and Djed Spence can play full-back on both sides, so it gives us full coverage in defence.”

Luka Modric tends to swap shirts with an opponent after every international. It means he must need a very large wardrobe or plenty of frames. He will soon have a double century of shirts. There was, Modric said in his autobiography, only one Croatia game where he was determined not to trade the checkered kit with a member of the opposition team: against France, in 2018.

Croatia lost, but even getting there was an extraordinary achievement. Their population remains below four million, less than 0.05 of the world’s. But Modric took them to the 2018 World Cup final. He won the World Cup’s Golden Ball and then the Ballon d’Or, to follow his third consecutive Champions League with Real Madrid.

In an era of diminutive passers, Modric gained personal accolades that eluded even the Spanish technicians who won a World Cup. Modric got so close to emulating them, in part because of a rivalry that will be renewed now. Croatia face England in Dallas. Their only previous World Cup game was in Moscow, eight years ago, and in the semi-final.

Lionel Messi and this love story with the World Cup endures. The game’s most beloved player, Argentina’s most famous son, provided another golden performance as his first-ever World Cup hat-trick propelled Argentina towards a fourth star.

It can be easy to forget the pain and sorrow experienced on this brilliant Argentine’s gripping journey, before that outpouring of jubilation and the destiny of Doha in 2022. But beyond Kylian Mbappe’s super-charged France and the mesmerising Lamine Yamal’s Spain, Argentina’s dream of back-to-back titles burnt bright in the night sky of Kansas City in a 3-0 victory over an Algeria side blinded by this iconic No 10’s light.

More history was made at a Fifa World Cup with this maiden treble in what is Messi’s sixth tournament. This was also a 61st hat-trick in a career that refuses to fizzle out. An Argentine side, that threatened to grow stale in the intervening years since that glorious penalty shoot-out victory over France, now has three points to start Group J thanks to their little magician.

Bukayo Saka is touch and go to prove his fitness to start, with Noni Madueke ready to deputise on the right. Trevoh Chalobah will not be involved after replacing the injured Tino Livramento but will be available for their next outing. All other squad members are fit – will Tuchel pick Bellingham or Morgan Rodgers in the No 10 and who out of Guehi, Stones and Konsa starts at centre back?

As it stands, Croatia boss Zlatko Dalic has a full bill of health, with all 26 players available for their opening game, including Manchester City duo Josko Gvardiol and Mateo Kovacic, who have endured injury-impacted seasons.

In the final hours before England’s opening World Cup match, Thomas Tuchel hasn’t felt the need for any extra rousing speech about what the competition is. The manager senses the right mood among the squad as it is.

“They know,” Tuchel says. “We all know, and I think you have to grow into a tournament. At the moment, I don’t feel that any emotional fuel is needed to make everyone clear what is happening. But at the moment I see it even as an advantage that we’re focused on what we can actually influence. We don’t put it in the bigger picture – just put it where it is. We know,” he repeated.

Some of the players certainly know the challenge of Croatia. They’re all well aware of Luka Modric’s quality, of course, especially since he’s been central to three of four meetings between the sides since 2018.

An own goal and a late Marko Arnautovic penalty denied Jordan a dream debut point as they fell short to Austria in their World Cup opener.

Romano Schmidt had given Austria the lead in the first half but that was cancelled out by Ali Olwan, who expertly bent home to score Jordan’s first ever goal at a World Cup finals.

But there was heartbreak to come for the debutants, with Yazan Al Arab putting into his own net with 14 minutes to play to give Austria a lifeline, before Arnautovic converted from the spot with the last kick of the game to seal the win.

Having seen Kylian Mbappe run riot against Senegal, this generation’s other star striker clearly thought ‘anything you can do, I can do better’. Making his World Cup debut, Erling Haaland scored twice in the first half as Norway beat a spirited Iraqi side 4-1 to end the first matchday top of Group I.

The 25-year-old is already Norway’s record goalscorer, now with 57 goals in 51 caps, and it looks like as well as duelling for top spot in Group I, he and Mbappe will be fighting for the tournament’s Golden Boot.

He only had 11 touches in the first half – the fewest of any player on the pitch – but two of them were goals. The first was a tap-in from a Moller Wolfe cutback, with the second also coming at close range as the Manchester City striker closed down Iraq keeper Jalal Hassan, who dawdled on the ball after a poor backpass by Zaid Tahseen and paid the price.

He missed a second-half chance for a hat-trick, too, and was narrowly denied an assist as he headed the ball across goal for Kristian Thorstvedt to bundle home Norway’s fourth on the night – but the strike was marked down as an Aymen Hussein home goal.

The 33-year-old had been refused a visa by the Canadian government last week, prompting his legal team to launch a last-minute challenge at the Federal Court in Ottawa.

The Black Stars play Panama in their Group L match in Toronto on Wednesday. In dismissing the appeal, judge Roger Lafreniere wrote that Partey sought “extraordinary, mandatory interlocutory relief” that would have required Canada to set aside a “lawfully rendered inadmissibility finding and facilitate his entry for a specific event.”

Former Arsenal midfielder Partey denies seven charges of rape and one count of sexual assault, relating to allegations by four different women between 2020 and 2022, and is due to stand trial next year.

Algeria were warned. A dainty pass slipped into the right side of the penalty area by Lautaro Martinez played Lionel Messi in on goal and he routinely found the back of the net by beating Luca Zidane on his near side. The crowd inside the Kansas City Stadium erupted in cheers only for the celebrations to get cut short as the football legend was ruled offside.

It was a chance taken just five minutes into Argentina’s World Cup opener and looked as though the 38-year-old had picked up exactly where he left off when winning the tournament four years ago. But it was not to be and Messi had to wait a further 12 minutes before making his mark on the 2026 edition of the World Cup.

Supplied by his close teammate Rodrigo de Paul, the little master spun towards goal before drawing a stunning effort from left-to-right, through the hands of Zidane and into the top, right corner with the pinpoint accuracy of his heydays. It is the type of goal that reminds the World Cup hopefuls that Messi may be heading into the twilight of his career but he retains all the prowess and skill of his younger self and, perhaps most importantly, the desire to achieve wonders on the biggest stage of all.

A second goal of the game caame from a fortuitous tap-in before a slick move late in the second half set him up for a driving finish that takes him to 16 goals across his six World Cup tournaments. That puts him level with record holder Miroslav Klose who he will surely surpass before this tournament is done.

Livramento’s calf injury is an early blow for Thomas Tuchel’s preparations for the tournament, coming just one day before the Three Lions’ opener against Croatia in Dallas on Wednesday.

Tuchel was able to replace Newcastle full-back Livramento in the squad with a deadline of 9pm BST on Tuesday – 24 hours before England’s first game of the tournament – and Chelsea defender Chalobah was on his way to the United States on Tuesday. Chalobah will not be involved against Croatia, but will be available for subsequent group matches against Ghana and Panama.