Follow live updates and coverage on the 2026 World Cup games as France and Norway square off with the winner finishing atop Group I.
Even with no Erling Haaland, this has been a fun match so far. France has largely dominated, controlling 68% of possession and creating a whopping seven shots on goal.
But after all that, it’s still only a 2-1 lead for France after the Thelo Aasgaard goal for Norway.
Off the kickoff following the second Dembélé goal, Norway’s Thelo Aasgaard took advantage of a seemingly sleepy France defense and scored to make this a 2-1 game as we approach the hydration break.
Once again, Mbappé hit Dembélé with a perfect pass, and this time Dembélé cut back toward the top of the box before unleashing a left-footed strike into the back of the net.
Seck just fouled an Iraqi player as they made a break toward the goal. That foul might’ve saved a great scoring chance.
Off a perfect lob form Fredrik Aursnes, Jørgen Strand Larsen took a powerful shot from the center of the box that only barely missed high of the goal.
As Sadio Mané sprinted upfield toward the Iraq box, with only the goalkeeper to beat, Iraq’s Rebin Sulaka reached out and pulled on his uniform to slow him down. After a lengthy replay review, the referee ruled that Sulaka should be given a red card. Now Iraq will have to play the rest of the game with 10 players.
On the ensuing free kick, Mané nearly scored a goal. But the Iraq goalkeeper made an incredible diving save to keep the score 1-0.
Olise had a right-footer from the top of the box in the opening 10 minutes that required a skilled save from goalkeeper Egil Selvik.
Just now, he had another chance after a run into the left side of the box, but he couldn’t get enough power on a shot amid a sea of defenders.
Pretty rough challenge from Berg, who had both his arms around the shoulders of Michael Olise.
France has been dominating this match early, and now it has a goal less than 10 minutes into the first half.
Off a fantastic pass from Kylian Mbappé from the opposite side of the pitch, Ousmane Dembélé unleashed a quick flurry of dribble moves into the right side of the box before burying a goal.
Habib Diarra headed the ball into the net off a corner kick, giving Senegal a crucial 1-0 lead in a must-win game. Just the start that Senegal needed.
Not only does Senegal need a win, it needs to score a bunch of goals in order to help its chances of advancing to the knockout round.
Not even 30 seconds into this match France superstar Kylian Mbappé nearly scored, firing a shot from the right side of the box that bounced off the crossbar. It was a tough angle, though.
Senegal needs a win to finish third in Group I and still hold out hope for advancing. If the game ends in a draw, both teams are eliminated.
Both sides have clinched spots in the knockout round, but the winner of Group I is up for grabs.
NBC News is tracking the French star and the Argentine legend through their teams’ remaining matches.
Here are the starting 11s for France and Norway. Erling Haaland is not starting for Norway, which has already clinched a spot in the knockout stage.
France’s starters:
Norway’s starters:
Senegal has had a disappointing tournament thus far. It lost its opening match 3-1 to France, and its second game 3-2 to Norway, losing both times to transcendent scoring talents in France’s Kylian Mbappé and Norway’s Erling Haaland, who each scored two goals apiece against Senegal.
Senegal needs a win against Iraq today to secure three points, but even then, it wouldn’t be guaranteed a spot in the knockout round. Senegal would then finish third in its group, and only 8 of the 12 third-place teams will advance.
Vaughn Dalzell and Drew Dinsick look at USA’s odds for the stage of elimination, analyzing how far Mauricio Pochettino’s squad can go.
Midway through the second half, tied with Germany, its World Cup hopes dwindling, Ecuador lined up for a corner kick. Pedro Vite looped the ball into the box, where Kevin Rodriguez headed the ball onward toward the goal. The legendary German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer seemed well-positioned to catch the ball. But Ecuador’s Gonzalo Plata stuck up his left foot, just in front of Neuer, and poked the ball into the net.
The crowd let out a deafening roar, and Plata ran to the corner of the field, in front of a sea of yellow-clad fans, where he was mobbed by his teammates, the substitutes leaving the bench to join in, too. On the sideline, Ecuador manager Sebastián Beccacece left his post and ran to the front of the stands, where he reached up and hugged his family.
With France and Norway having both clinched a spot in the knockout stage, both sides may rest some players for their upcoming match.
One player who may start on the bench is Norway’s Erling Haaland, according to a report from France’s L’Équipe.
Shortly after beating Senegal, Norwegian superstar Erling Haaland said he didn’t care about Norway’s final Group I game against France because his team had already qualified for the knockouts.
But the rest of the world most certainly does, as the Manchester City forward will face off against legendary French striker Kylian Mbappé.
The European goal machines — who both command a weekly salary north of $600,000 — have started the tournament with a bang.
Mbappé has scored four goals in two games to push his World Cup total to 16, two behind Lionel Messi’s record for most all time, while Haaland has scored twice each in wins over Senegal and Iraq.
Taylor Twellman joins “The Dan Patrick Show” to review USA’s loss to Turkey and their chances against a “defend-first” Bosnia-Herzegovina side in the knockout round. They also assess Christian Pulisic’s return.
The United States only wanted to get through its final World Cup group stage match Thursday night without an injury or a red card, while Turkey was playing for a face-saving victory to end a dismal tournament.
Both teams got what they wanted most out of their meaningless meeting before the Americans head on to the knockout stage — and coach Mauricio Pochettino was annoyed by any suggestion that the Americans’ last-gasp, 3-2 defeat said anything negative about the state of his team.
“For you not say congratulations that we won the group, that is a little bit sad,” Pochettino told reporters.
“What we need to remember is we won first place in this group,” Pochettino added while speaking in Spanish and English. “We ended up being No. 1, and we managed all the pressure and the expectations quite well. We had other priorities. We wanted to win. We did want the victory, but there are other things we needed to balance out, and that’s how I made the decisions. … Making history is winning the World Cup, not just winning the group. It’s a little bit petty, if you will. You’re thinking just a little bit too small.”
Norwegian soccer fans are going viral for invading the U.S. with their “Viking row” after qualifying for the World Cup for the first time in 28 years. The trend first emerged in March as Norway was preparing for the World Cup and has quickly become the country’s trademark national celebration.
Ecuador President Daniel Noboa declared today a national holiday after the country’s soccer team reached the knockout phase of the World Cup with a shock 2-1 win over Germany.
“Thanks to the players and the coach who, despite the criticism, the insults, and the tough moments they went through, managed to recover and give this immense joy to the entire country.” Noboa said in a post on X.
Ecuador needed a victory in their final Group E match yesterday following a defeat by the Ivory Coast and a draw with Curacao.
NBC News