France thrashes Norway, leads and puts Haaland on Brazil's path to the World Cup

France confirmed their favoritism, beat Norway 4-1 this Friday (26) and secured the lead in Group I of the 2026 World Cup. In a great afternoon at Gillette Stadium, in Foxborough, Ousmane Dembélé scored three of the French team's initial goals and Doué closed the goal, while Thelo Aasgaard scored for the Norwegians. Goalkeeper Mike Maignan also shone when he saved a penalty taken by Jørgen Strand Larsen at the beginning of the final stage.

Already classified before the ball rolled, the two teams were only competing for the first position in the bracket. With the result, France finishes first and awaits the definition of the other groups to find out their opponent in the round of 32 stage, who should be one of the best third-placed teams. Norway advances in second, faces Ivory Coast in the next phase and, if they advance, will face the winner of Brazil x Japan in the round of 16.

French superiority appeared from the first minutes. Right from the opening shot, Mbappé hit the crossbar and almost opened the scoring. After six minutes, however, he found Dembélé at speed, and the striker hit hard to make it 1-0.

The dominance remained absolute. With possession of the ball, intensity and pressure on the offensive field, France expanded in the 20th minute. Once again after assistance from Mbappé, Dembélé received the ball on the edge of the area, took it to the middle and finished in Selvik's corner.

Norway reacted shortly afterwards. At 23, Thelo Aasgaard took advantage of a quick exchange of passes inside the area and reduced the score, putting the Vikings back in the match.

Hope, however, was short-lived. In the 32nd minute, Dembélé appeared again. Surrounded by markers, he cleared the play with skill and finished from the left into the corner to complete the hat-trick before the break and make the score 3-1.

In the second half, Norway had the best opportunity to pull one back after just four minutes, when Oscar Bobb conceded a penalty. Jørgen Strand Larsen went for the penalty, but hit poorly, and Maignan saved without giving a rebound, frustrating the Norwegian reaction.

The French began to manage the advantage, controlling ball possession and neutralizing the attacks of Erling Haaland's team, which was unable to produce much in the face of a solid opposing defense. Norway still created some opportunities with Oscar Bobb and Aasgaard, but Maignan appeared again with good interventions to guarantee the victory.

In stoppage time, Doué received a perfect cross and headed it into the goal, giving final results to the match.

Without suffering any scares in the final minutes, France confirmed their 4-1 victory, secured the lead in Group I and remains among the main candidates for the title. Norway, on the other hand, keeps its dream of a historic campaign alive, but will have a tough challenge against Ivory Coast before thinking about a possible duel with Brazil in the round of 16.

Finally, in the same group, Senegal beat Iraq by a rout and still hopes to qualify as one of the three best placed.

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Source: CNN