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Kane, Bellingham brilliance after Messi magic shows this World Cup belongs to the stars

12 Mins Read

Editor’s note: Follow all World Cup matches live today

ARLINGTON, TX — England’s two biggest names hopped on a World Cup trend Wednesday.

Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham both found the back of the net in England’s 4-2 win over Croatia, becoming the latest big stars to immediately find success at the 2026 World Cup.

Bayern Munich forward Kane’s double, with a goal from the penalty spot and another from an unmarked header after a corner kick, and Real Madrid man Bellingham’s winner, came less than 24 hours after Lionel Messi’s superb hat trick for Argentina against Algeria. That put him tied atop the all-time Men’s World Cup scoring charts, which Kylian Mbappe had climbed earlier June 16 with a pair of goals against Senegal. The same day, Man City forward Erling Haaland ripped off a pair of goals on five shots for Norway in a 4-1 victory over Iraq, putting fuel on the bonfire that is Norway’s chances to be a dark horse in this competition.

This is shaping up to be a World Cup of the stars. After concerns about fitness, fatigue and longevity for many familiar and beloved names, some of the global game’s top figures have started off the World Cup in stunning style, leading their teams to early victories that set up many of the favorites for potentially deep runs.

To be fair, some of the biggest names in the sport also got off to strong starts in 2022. Bellingham helped England to a 6-2 win over Iran, Mbappe chipped in to France’s 4-1 win over Australia and Messi scored from the penalty spot, though the goal came in defeat to Saudi Arabia.

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Look back as Lionel Messi makes history with sixth World Cup showing

Argentine player Lionel Messi plays with a ball during a training session at Herzogs Park, Herzogenaurach on June 6, 2006, ahead of the Fifa World Cup 2006.

(DANIEL GARCIA, AFP via Getty Images)

There also are exceptions. Lamine Yamal made only a cameo as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury and wasn’t able to find a winning goal in Spain’s draw with Cape Verde. Earlier on Wednesday, Cristiano Ronaldo tried three shots but put none of them on target in Portugal’s draw with DR Congo.

But even with the expanded World Cup field potentially leading to more moments where the sport’s top stars can shine, some of the performances have come against other strong squads. Kane and Bellingham did their damage against perennial late-stagers Croatia on Wednesday, while Mbappe got rolling against Senegal, the African champions (with the usual caveats here about the paperwork being done that may strip them of that title).

Perhaps the tournament will shift from a World Cup of stars to a World Cup of load management in the next week or two. If France, Argentina and England sew up the top of their groups by winning a second game, managers surely will be tempted to rest their biggest stars ahead of the longest-ever World Cup knockout round.

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Every World Cup soccer champion since 1930 in photos

1930– Uruguay defeats Argentina 4-2 in the first World Cup event held in Uruguay.

(AFP via Getty Images)

Yet, those contests also will provide opportunities for continual rhythm-building − or stat-padding if a star or team decide it’s worth chasing a Golden Boot at the potential expense of the golden trophy awarded at the end of the competition.

Certainly, the World Cup is about the stories that bubble up from under the surface onto everyone’s radar: Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha becoming a social media star after his performance against Spain, the University of Kansas community saying, “Rock Chalk, Algeria!” as they host the North Africans, Curacao scoring in its World Cup debut, Europeans explaining Waffle House. Those are the stories that make up the narrative of the first week of the World Cup, when every qualified team still has a chance, and fans are getting to know some of the new faces.

For now, though, it is still the first week of the tournament and it is the familiar faces who are already making it clear: The biggest names in the sport are chasing the biggest prize, and they’re not taking any time to start the hunt.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kane, Bellingham, Messi show 2026 World Cup belongs to the stars

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