The heirs to football’s throne

PETALING JAYA: Kylian Mbappe is football’s artist. Erling Haaland is football’s force.

One glides. The other crashes through.

One plays for a superpower overflowing with talent. The other carries the hopes of a nation that waited 28 years to return to the World Cup.

Yet both ended the day with the same outcome: two goals, three points and a reminder that they remain the sport’s most feared forwards.

On a day when France and Norway launched their World Cup campaigns with convincing victories, the spotlight inevitably settled on the two men who have spent years being cast as football’s next great standard-bearers.

Mbappe scored twice as France beat Senegal 3-1 in New Jersey. Hours later, Haaland matched him goal for goal as Norway marked their long-awaited return to the tournament with a 4-1 victory over Iraq.

The scorelines mattered. The statements mattered more.

For almost two decades, football has lived in the age of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Their rivalry shaped generations, dominated headlines and redefined greatness.

Messi remains capable of moments of magic and continues to command the world’s attention, but the game is steadily turning the page.

This World Cup increasingly feels like the stage on which the next chapter will be written.

And the familiar names of Mbappe and Haaland are holding the pen.

Mbappe’s contribution against Senegal carried historical significance. His second goal, a thunderous strike from distance deep into stoppage time, moved him to 58 international goals and made him France’s all-time leading scorer.

That achievement deserves context.

France have produced some of the finest attacking players the game has known. Just Fontaine, Michel Platini, Jean-Pierre Papin, Thierry Henry and Olivier Giroud all occupy treasured places in the nation’s football folklore.

Mbappe has now surpassed them all in the one category that matters most to strikers.

The most astonishing detail is his age.

At 27, many forwards are only beginning to enter their prime years. Mbappe already owns a World Cup winner’s medal, a World Cup final hattrick, a catalogue of unforgettable moments and now the national scoring record.

His tally of 14 World Cup goals also places him within touching distance of Miroslav Klose’s all-time tournament record of 16.

Records often arrive at the end of distinguished careers. Mbappe is collecting them in the middle of his.

Yet France’s victory was not solely a celebration of individual brilliance.

For much of the first half, Senegal looked the sharper side. Nicolas Jackson struck the post. Ismaila Sarr squandered a golden opportunity before the break.

The memory of Senegal’s famous victory over France in the opening match of the 2002 World Cup briefly hovered over the contest once more.

Then France shifted gears. Much of that transformation came through Michael Olise.

The Bayern Munich winger appeared subdued before halftime but emerged as a different player after the restart. His movement became sharper, his passing more adventurous and his imagination impossible to contain.

Through balls appeared where defenders saw none. Reverse passes opened spaces that seemed closed.

Mbappe supplied the finishing touch, but Olise supplied much of the spark.

That partnership should concern every remaining team in the tournament.

Mbappe alone can decide matches. Surrounded by creators such as Olise, alongside a squad packed with depth and quality, France possess a level of attacking firepower few nations can match.

If Mbappe could drag an average side deep into a tournament, the thought of what he might achieve with this supporting cast is a frightening prospect.

A different kind of burden

Haaland’s story unfolds differently.

France expect to compete for trophies. Norway simply spent years dreaming of returning to the biggest stage.

When Norway last appeared at a World Cup in 1998, Haaland had not yet been born. An entire generation grew up without seeing their national team at football’s grandest event.

Now they arrive led by one of the most recognisable athletes on the planet.

Towering, powerful and relentlessly efficient, Haaland has become the face of Norwegian football in a way few players ever become the face of a nation.

His influence stretches beyond statistics. He represents possibility.

His two goals against Iraq reinforced that status.

More revealing, perhaps, was the intensity with which he played. He pressed aggressively from the front, demanded possession and attacked every opportunity with the urgency of a player who understood the significance of the occasion.

For all his club success with Manchester City, this felt personal.

World Cups are not guaranteed, especially for players born outside traditional football powers.

George Best never played at one. George Weah never played at one. Ryan Giggs waited decades before finally reaching a major tournament with Wales.

For a time, Haaland risked joining that list.

Instead, he now stands at the centre of Norway’s football revival.

That does not mean Norway are a one-man team.

Martin Odegaard arrives as a Premier League champion. Kristoffer Ajer, Oscar Bobb and Jorgen Strand Larsen provide quality throughout the spine of the side.

Norway’s rise resembles the emergence of Belgium’s celebrated golden generation, a talented group finally reaching maturity together.

Yet no player commands attention quite like Haaland.

Even in a sport overflowing with stars, he remains impossible to ignore.

His goals against Iraq extended an extraordinary run that has seen him score in each of his last 11 competitive appearances for Norway.

More remarkably, he has scored multiple goals in five consecutive competitive internationals.

Numbers alone do not explain his impact.

The significance lies in what those goals mean.

Every strike pushes Norway further from decades of frustration and closer to believing they belong among football’s elite once again.

That is why the opening day for Mbappe and Haaland felt so compelling.

They reached the same destination by entirely different routes.

One is the elegant leader of a football empire. The other is the powerful spearhead of an emerging force.

One chases history. The other is helping create it.

Both scored twice. Both inspired victory.

Both reminded the world that while football’s established icons still occupy a place in the game’s imagination, a new generation is ready to shape the tournament’s defining moments.

The World Cup is only beginning. But if its story eventually comes down to Mbappe and Haaland, nobody should be surprised.

The heirs to football’s throne have already announced their arrival.