norway v france post-match analysis, 6/26/26
norway 1-4 france, world cup 2026
đBoston Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts
norway starting xi: E. Selvik (13), F. Aursnes (14), H. Falchener (25), L. ĂstigĂ„rd (4), F. BjĂžrkan (15), K. Thorstvedt (18), P. Berg (6), T. Aasgaard (19), O. Bobb (22), J. Strand Larsen (11), A. Schjelderup (21)
substitutions: M. Thorsby (2) for K. Thorstvedt 46'; M. Pedersen (16) for F. BjÞrkan 46'; S. LangÄs (24) for H. Falchener 67'; J. Hauge (23) for O. Bobb 83'; A. Nusa (20) for A. Schjelderup 83'
france starting xi: M. Maignan (16), J. Koundé (5), D. Upamecano (4), M. Lacroix (26), T. Hernåndez (19), A. Tchouaméni (8), M. Koné (6), O. Dembélé (7), M. Olise (11), D. Doué (20), K. Mbappé (10)
substituions: R. Cherki (24) for M. Olise 65'; B. Barcola (12) for O. Dembélé 65'; I. Konaté (15) for D. Upamecano 76'; M. Gusto (2) for J. Koundé 87'; J.P. Mateta (22) for K. Mbappe 87'
norway (2-0-0) and france (2-0-0) both enter this match undefeated and are guaranteed to be the top two teams from group i moving on to the round of 32. this match proved to be the decider in which nation topped the group.
16th meeting, prev: france 7w-4t-4l
in what was supposed to be one of the matchups of the group stages, with two of the world's best players - erling braut haaland for norway and kylian mbappe for france - solbakken, norway's head coach, opted to rest haaland in an unpopular decision among fans.
france, aftering applying large pressure for the opening minutes, struck early in the seventh minute, with dembélé all-too-easily getting between the norwegian defense and tucking the ball into the far side netting. the momentum lay heavily in the hands of the french, and were frankly unlucky to not have scored more in just the opening 15 minutes (selvik also made a few nice saves). strand larsen missed a golden opportunity to equalize for norway in the fourteenth minute, skying a volley after a wonderful touch. before norway could register a foothold on the match, dembélé struck gold again, this time centrally from outside the box. astoundingly, the replays of dembélé's second goal had barely ended before norway managed to get one back, not even a minute later, with rangers midfielder aasgaard wrongfooting maignan after a nice move. dembélé scored his third of the match and his first world cup hattrick in just 25 minutes with thirty-two on the clock, a brilliant showing for the parisian. a very eventful half drew to at end at 3:1, france.
norway switched to a 4-1-2-3 in the second half, perhaps hoping to spark some more offense, which happened almost instantaneously as fulham youngster oscar bobb drew a penalty in the forty-eighth minute with some tekky footwork. strand larsen fluffed his lines as his overtly-nonchalant penalty was quite easily parried aside by maignan (at this point even i was wondering why he was still on the field. just not his day). the second half was calmer, though chances for both teams were still abundant. errors from france almost saw norway pull one or two back; ultimately they couldn't capitalize. doué scores in added time to add to norway's pains.
honestly, it was bewildering to see that solbakken had opted to rest some of norway's star players in favor of a less-experienced 'second' team-esque lineup. it was as if he had already given up, and resigned to a second place finish, instead of fighting for first. some news sources even called him out as "pathetic" for resting haaland. strand-larsen felt like a huge letoff compared to haaland, his speed and strength proving not sufficient against the strong french defense. solbakken's formation and tactics, which at times looked more like a 5-4-1 than a 4-3-3, allowed france far too much time and space on the ball. norway grew into the game had a few good sequences down the left, but largely felt nonthreatening. aasgaard, with his goal, enjoyed a nice game in his world cup debut.
france, competitive and impressive as usual, overloaded the right side of the pitch, which left mbappe (and doué) in much more space down the left wing. even as such and with the whole french team feeding mbappe, he struggled to have much of an effect on the game. france pressed deep into norway's defense and always managed to have a man open. the players felt more in-sync, and though they probably could've scored more, should be happy with their performance against their strongest group opponents.
with this result, france finish top of group i undefeated, while norway qualify second. in the round of 32, france will face sweden (group f's third place team) and norway will play ivory coast (group e's runner up), both on june 30th. an expected result, perhaps an unexpected scoreline.
the final score in boston is 4-1, france.
