Here's a look at how the biggest stars in world football have performed at the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar so far, along with some of the notable results from the first week of the tournament.
Five-Star Ronaldo: After giving Portugal the lead against Ghana, Cristiano Ronaldo became the first man to score at 5 World Cups (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, and 2022). The Portuguese striker also joined Lionel Messi, Lothar Matthaus, Antonio Carbajal and Rafael Marquez as the only men to play in 5 different World Cups.
A messy affair: Lionel Messi is the fifth player to score at four different World Cups (2006, 2014, 2018 & 2022) — after Pele, Uwe Seeler, Miroslav Klose and Cristiano Ronaldo. But he ended up on the losing the side following Argentina’s 1-2 loss to Saudi Arabia. This was also Argentina’s first loss to an Asian team in World Cup.
Harry the heart: Harry Kane, who won the Golden Boot four years ago in Russia, failed to find the back of the net in his team’s 6-2 demolition of Iran. But Kane did provide two assists leading to Sterling and Rashford’s goals.
Muller’s wait gets longer: With 10 goals in his kitty, Germany’s Thomas Muller is just one goal shy of his countryman Jurgen Klinsmann (11) and Hungary’s Sandor Kocsis (11) and three short of surpassing Pele’s 12 in World history. However, he went scoreless in Germany’s 1-2 loss against Japan.
A NIGHT OF FIRSTS FOR JAPAN
By beating Germany 2-1, Japan achieved several goals in their World Cup history. This was their first ever comeback win, first ever win after trailing at half-time and their first ever win after conceding a goal in the World Cup.
AN UNWANTED RECORD FOR QATAR
After losing 0-2 to Ecuador, Qatar became the first host nation ever to lose their opening game at a World Cup.
ENGLAND ON A HIGH
Gareth Southgate’s England, who found their rhythm early, walloped Iran 6-2 to script their biggest World Cup opening match.
