France beat a Norway without Haaland and many starters

France he makes three out of three at the World Cup and beats a Norway full of reserves 4-1, with Haaland rested. It’s a fantastic hat trick of the Dembélé Ballon d’Orgained entirely in the first half, to give the lead in group I to the boys led by Didier Deschamps, absent today because he temporarily returned to his homeland following the death of his mother.

The Dembele show

Mbappé’s first acceleration can be seen after just thirty seconds, when he enters the area and unleashes a right-footed shot that hits the crossbar. In the 4th minute Koné tries with a right-footed shot from the edge which is saved with a dive by Selvik. The goal is in the air and arrives already in the 7th minute. Mbappé cuts the field for Dembélé, who enters the area from the right, beats the direct marker and hits Selvik with a right-footed shot halfway up which makes it 1-0. In the 14th minute, Strand Larsen has the equalizer on the right but shoots high from an excellent position. Three minutes later Selvik again blocks Mbappé’s way. The Real Madrid star he is decisive in the 20th minute when he scores a new winning assist for the usual Dembélé, who focuses on the left foot and strikes Selvik from the edge for the 2-0.

The Scandinavians are not having it and a minute later they immediately close the gap thanks to Aasgaard, who receives the ball in the area, displaces Upamecano with a feint and pierces Maignan with his right foot. Les Bleus reacted and in the 32nd minute a wild Dembélé scored a hat-trick, beating Selvik again with a left-footed shot to score his personal hat-trick. A first half full of emotions ends at 3-1.

Chosen by the fans: Ousmane Dembélé your Superior Player of the Match.

#FIFAWorldCup #SuperiorPOTM pic.twitter.com/tMLgiHyrvl

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) June 26, 2026

The missed penalty

Solbakken’s men started well again and in the 3rd minute they earned a penalty with Bobb, brought down in the area by Theo Hernández. Strand Larsen appears from the spot, but is hypnotized by Maignan. In the 11th minute Mbappé comes close to scoring a poker with a right-footed shot from the edge that comes out a few centimeters from the top corner. The reigning world vice-champions found themselves exposed in the 27th minute, but Maignan was decisive in blocking the exiting Bobb. The final 4-1 came in full injury time, thanks to a winning header from Doué following a cross from the left by Barcola. In the round of 32, France will almost certainly meet Sweden, while Norway will face Ivory Coast.

The other match, Senegal landslide over Iraq

Senegal wins 5-0 against Iraq on the third and final day of group I and still hopes to qualify for the round of 32 of the 2026 World Cup. In the ranking of the third-placed teams the Senegalese have overtaken South Korea and Scotlandamong the teams so far with 3 points, Thiaw’s national team is the one with the best goal difference (+2), but to celebrate we will still have to wait for the end of the group stage. The Senegalese immediately found the advantage following a corner kick, with Seck’s header deflected by Diarra. After nine minutes the game changed again, Sulaka committed a foul for a clear scoring opportunity on Mane, after a VAR review Taylor removed the yellow card and took out the red one. Iraq went into total confusion with the man down, Senegal came close to making it 2-0 several times, Ismaila Sarr ate the second goal by kicking high from a few steps away.

At the end of the first hydration break, Iraq tried to hold on despite their numerical inferiority, while Thiaw’s team struggled to build play in the offensive phase. In the 33rd minute Jakobs attempted a left-footed shot from the edge, but the ball ended up on the bottom. The other attempt, before the final whistle of the first half, was that of Mane, the Al-Nassr striker grazed the crossbar. The second half began with Senegal going forward to try to improve the goal difference: Sarr tried to surprise the new substitute Hassan, who however neutralized the dangerous conclusion.

Senegal secure their first win of #FIFAWorldCup 2026

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) June 26, 2026

After a few minutes, in the 11th minute, Camara stole the ball from Iqbal, for Sarr himself it was very simple to find the 2-0 from inside the small area. Three minutes later Pape Gueye, who had come on for a few moments, made it 3-0 with a curling shot from distance that Hassan could not stop. The Villarreal midfielder, in the 26th minute, scored a double with a great counter-ball shot after Jackson’s pass. In the final quarter of an hour Mane also tried, but the former Liverpool player hit the post.

In the 37th minute Iliman Ndiaye made it 5-0, with a violent finish at the near post following a recovery of the ball by Como striker Diao. Senegal’s victory effectively ousts Scotland from the eight best third-placed teams, Thiaw’s team will now have to wait for the results of the other groups to understand if they will have the chance to qualify for the round of 32. However, the five goals remain a record, Senegal is the first African national team to score a huge number of goals in the history of the World Cup.