Day 6: Mbappé Makes History, Haaland Arrives, and Iran Refuse to Fold

Day six is another reminder that this tournament keeps two clocks. The opener — Iran and New Zealand in Los Angeles — kicked off under Monday-evening floodlights on the West Coast, but by then it was already 1am Tuesday by UTC reckoning, which is why a game that felt like Monday night sits on June 16 in the schedule. It produced a frantic 2–2 that neither side could quite win. The day proper then arrived on the East Coast, and it belonged to two forwards rewriting the record books in different states: Kylian Mbappé climbed to the top of France’s all-time list in New Jersey, and Erling Haaland finally played a World Cup match in Massachusetts — and scored twice.

Iran 2–2 New Zealand: twice behind, twice level

For a side ranked an afterthought in Group G, New Zealand spent an hour looking like the story of the tournament. Inside seven minutes at SoFi Stadium, Chris Wood — the 34-year-old Nottingham Forest forward who is the gravitational centre of everything the All Whites do — held the ball up and slipped it to Elijah Just, and the Motherwell man volleyed past Alireza Beiranvand. Against the run of play, but in the net all the same.

Iran, with plenty on their minds, kept their composure. Ramin Rezaeian levelled in the 32nd minute, and the sides went in square. Nine minutes after the restart the script repeated itself almost verbatim: Wood the provider again, Just the finisher again, 2–1 New Zealand. The brace made Just the first New Zealander to score twice in a single World Cup match; Wood became the first to lay on two goals in one, per Sky Sports.

It still wasn’t enough. On 64 minutes Rezaeian swung a cross in from the right and Mohammad Mohebi headed it in off the post for 2–2. From there it became a goalkeeping exhibition, Beiranvand finishing with six saves. Iran piled up 17 shots to New Zealand’s 14 but landed only four on target, and the expected-goals line (1.50 to 1.24 their way) tells you how level it really was. “It’s really special,” Just said afterwards. “Scoring once is something I couldn’t have dreamed of, and two is just amazing.” New Zealand coach Darren Bazeley was caught between pride and frustration: “I am extremely proud of the players and performance,” he told Sky Sports, before adding, “we’ve come off disappointed not to win.”

The football, for once, was the simpler part of the night. Iran’s participation has been shadowed by off-pitch turbulence: as reported by Al Jazeera and Sky Sports, the squad relocated training to Mexico over visa problems, eleven non-playing officials were blocked from entering the United States, the anthem was jeered by sections of the LA crowd, and protesters gathered outside. Through all of it, the team twice refused to fold. Full data on the Iran 2–2 New Zealand page.

France 3–1 Senegal: Mbappé into the history books

For an hour, this looked like 2002 all over again — the night Senegal stunned France in the World Cup opener — with the underdogs the better team at MetLife Stadium. Nicolas Jackson rattled the post, Ismaïla Sarr spurned a glorious chance from close range, and Didier Deschamps’s star-studded front four mustered next to nothing. France had a single shot in the first half, by ESPN’s count. There was VAR drama, too: referee Alireza Faghani checked the monitor over a possible Mbappé penalty after a Sadio Mané challenge, then waved it away, deeming Mbappé had initiated the contact.

Then the favourites remembered who they were. On 66 minutes Michael Olise threaded a pass through the Senegal back line and Mbappé swept it home — his 57th goal for France, drawing him level with Olivier Giroud. Bradley Barcola, on for Dembélé barely two minutes earlier, made it 2–0 in the 82nd, racing onto Adrien Rabiot’s ball and finishing coolly. Senegal substitute Ibrahim Mbaye pulled one back deep in stoppage time (90+5’), but Mbappé had the last word a minute later, lashing an unassisted finish from distance to seal it at 3–1.

That goal made him France’s outright all-time leading scorer on 58, past Giroud, as Sky Sports detailed. It also moved him to 14 goals at World Cups — level with Germany’s Gerd Müller, and now trailing only Ronaldo (15) and Miroslav Klose (16). “I play to make my mark on my country’s history, to ensure my team reaches the final and wins the World Cup,” Mbappé said. The numbers matched the late control: France finished with 1.89 expected goals to Senegal’s 0.50, and Édouard Mendy’s five saves spared a heavier scoreline. The France 3–1 Senegal page has the full breakdown.

Iraq 1–4 Norway: Haaland announces himself

Erling Haaland had never played a World Cup match before this one — Norway’s 28-year exile saw to that — and it took him just 29 minutes to open his account, a simple finish from close range. His second followed before the break, gleefully pounced on after Zaid Tahseen’s loose pass back to goalkeeper Jalal Hassan invited him in. He is now, per Opta, the first player ever to score twice for Norway in a World Cup match, and the first to do so on debut — and Norway had led at half-time of a World Cup match for the first time in their history.

Iraq, to their enormous credit, did not come to make up the numbers. Aymen Hussein levelled at 1–1 in the 39th minute, heading in Amir Al-Ammari’s cross for what ESPN noted was only Iraq’s second-ever World Cup goal — and their first in 40 years, since a 1986 defeat to Belgium. That Hussein scored it carried weight: he had been held and questioned for hours by US immigration on arrival, having struck the play-off winner over Bolivia that brought Iraq here.

The second half was Norway flexing. Substitute Leo Østigård rose to meet Martin Ødegaard’s corner on 77 minutes for 3–1, and the rout was sealed deep into stoppage time. The match page logs three of Norway’s four goals; ESPN, Sky Sports, Opta and Al Jazeera all record the fourth as an Aymen Hussein own goal in the 97th minute, the defender turning Haaland’s towering header over his own line — a cruel coda for the man who had given Iraq their moment. Norway’s 2.53 expected goals to 0.77 underlined the gap, and the four-goal haul was their first at any major tournament — though Ståle Solbakken still wanted more from his side if they are to win the group.

Where the groups stand

Group I has its early pace-setters. Norway and France both have three points, with Norway top on goal difference (+3 to +2) after their bigger win. The reckoning comes quickly: Iraq face France on June 22, and Senegal meet Norway on June 23 — two sides who lost their opener with plenty of credit, and who will want a response.

Group G, by contrast, is a logjam. Iran’s draw, layered on top of Belgium’s 1–1 with Egypt, leaves all four teams on a single point. With the top two from each group and the eight best third-placed sides advancing in this 48-team edition — the maths is laid out in our group stage explainer — nobody has gained ground yet, which is exactly why the next round will bite. Keep an eye on the groups and follow every kick at whatsthescore.football.

Sources

Iran 2–2 New Zealand

France 3–1 Senegal

Iraq 1–4 Norway