The group stage of the World Cup in Group I concluded today, with Norway and France set to battle for first place. Additionally, there was an intriguing individual contest between Mbappé and Haaland in the race to become the tournament’s top scorer.
However, Norway’s coach Solbakken took a different approach, opting to rest Manchester City striker Haaland along with several other key players. In fact, ten players who had not featured in the previous match started the game.
Mbappé had a chance to close the gap on leading scorer Lionel Messi as early as the 22nd second, but his shot from a tight angle struck the crossbar.
Soon after, the Golden Ball winner Ousmane Dembélé entered the scoring race. In the 7th minute, the PSG magician left a defender stranded with two quick moves before firing into the far corner to make it 0-1.
Midway through the first half, Dembélé struck again with his exceptional left foot. Without even entering the penalty area, he curled a shot into the bottom far corner to double France’s lead to 0-2.
Yet, just a minute later, Osgoor was given space to shoot from inside the box and outsmarted Maignan, who guessed the wrong direction on his dive – 1-2.
Early in the second half, Bobb earned a penalty after being fouled by Hernandez. However, Maignan calmly saved Strand-Larsen’s weak spot-kick, which was struck almost centrally.
The final nail in the coffin came from Doué, who scored after both Mbappé and Dembélé had left the field. The PSG connection clicked once again as Désiré headed in a cross from Barcola to seal a 1-4 victory.
Notably, Solbakken stuck to his strategy of preserving his main players for the playoffs until the very end—Haaland never entered the pitch, nor did other regular starters for Norway.
World Cup 2026
Norway 1-4 France (1-3)
Goals: Dembélé U. 7 (0-1), 20 (0-2), 32 (1-3); Osgoor T. 21 (1-2); Doué D. 94 (1-4)
