Bow Down to the King: Mo Salah Finally Takes Center Stage at the World Cup
The World Cup so far has been a tournament of stars showing up when their country needs them.
Lionel Messi has a hat trick; Erling Haaland torpedoed his way to a brace in Norway’s opening game; and Harry Kane, along with many other ace strikers, have come up clutch for their nations in the early goings of the tournament.
And on Sunday, it was time for the man nicknamed the “Egyptian King,” Mohamed Salah, to finally take his throne on the globe’s biggest stage, scoring his first World Cup goal of the tournament in a 3-1 win over New Zealand.
Salah won’t be getting the gold star for the day, though, so find out who outperformed the Egyptian legend on the day across North America at the World Cup.
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Bronze Star: Lamine Yamal (Spain)
Yamal didn’t have the most goals for Spain on the day, that honor going to Mikel Oyarzabal, but he was the difference in what we saw from the first Spain game against Cape Verde to their dismantling of Saudi Arabia. Yamal’s addition back to the wing and Pedri getting moved into more of a conductor role in the midfield allowed the Barcelona super duo to paint the field with whatever creative ideas they wanted versus a Saudi Arabia team looking to just hold on. The 18-year-old still isn’t at full speed, but with a big game coming up against Uruguay that could knock out the World Cup-winning nation from the tournament, he might take it up a notch next week.
Silver Star: Mohamed Salah (Egypt)
After failing to make the World Cup in 2022, it was a resounding return for Salah in Egypt’s second match of the tournament against New Zealand. His goal helped Egypt take a lead after falling behind 1-0 early on in the contest, pushing his country to win their first-ever game at the World Cup. Now with three goals all time at the tournament, his next mission is clear: beat Iran in their final game and get out of the group in first place.
Gold Star: Kevin Pina (Cape Verde)
Cape Verde already won over millions of fans around the world following their first match day when they drew Spain 0-0 in a defensive masterclass.
Their fairy tale story only continued with their second game of the World Cup against Urugay, as Kevin Pina scored a phenomenal free kick goal to give his nation their first goal in tournament history. Even after Uruguay fought back to not only tie but take the lead, Cape Verde never gave up and scored again to steal another point from a country that has won the World Cup before.
They now control their own destiny going into their final game of the group stage against Saudi Arabia, where grabbing a result will most likely send them into the Round of 32.
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This story was originally published June 21, 2026 at 11:19 PM.