France Rout Norway, Senegal Keep Their Hopes Alive To Reach The 2026 World Cup Round Of 32

France's national squad cemented their status as one of the leading title contenders for the 2026 World Cup after storming past Norway with a final 4-1 scoreline in the final Group I fixture. Meanwhile, Senegal kept their hopes of advancing to the Round of 32 alive after running riot with five unanswered goals against Iraq.

Taking the field at Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, in the early hours of Saturday WIB, Les Bleus seized attacking initiative right from kickoff and pinned Norway into prolonged defensive play.

The first dangerous chance for Didier Deschamps' side arrived via a Kylian Mbappé strike that crashed against the goal frame.

France only required seven minutes to break the deadlock. Mbappé played a perfectly weighted pass that Ousmane Dembélé finished cleanly to hand Les Bleus a 1-0 lead.

France's dominance continued. In the 20th minute, Dembélé registered on the scoresheet once again, converting Mbappé's second assist of the night to extend France's advantage to 2-0.

Norway briefly mounted resistance. Just one minute later, Thelo Aasgaard cut the deficit to 2-1 after connecting with a delivery from Andreas Schjelderup.

France hit back immediately. Dembélé rounded off a brilliant first half display with a hat-trick in the 32nd minute, latching onto a pass from Aurélien Tchouaméni. This goal closed the first half with France holding a 3-1 lead.

Following the restart, Norway received a golden opportunity to narrow the gap after being awarded a penalty. However, Jorgen Strand Larsen failed to convert the spot kick, with his effort saved by France goalkeeper Mike Maignan.

Maignan once again proved Les Bleus' last line of defence shortly after, denying a clear goalscoring chance from Oscar Bobb.

France put the result beyond doubt deep into stoppage time, as Desiré Doué finished off a cross from Bradley Barcola in the 90+4th minute. Doue's strike set the final score at 4-1, which held until the full time whistle.

With this victory, France completed the group stage with a perfect 9 points from three matches. Norway still advanced to the Round of 32 as Group I runners-up, finishing the group on 6 points.

Senegal Run Riot Against Iraq

In the other Group I fixture, Senegal recorded a comprehensive 5-0 demolition of Iraq at BMO Field, Toronto. Senegal made a lightning fast start as Habib Diarra opened the scoring from a corner set piece in just the 4th minute.

Iraq's task grew significantly harder when defender Rebin Sulaka was shown a straight red card in the 13th minute. Despite being reduced to 10 men, Iraq managed to restrict Senegal to just a 1-0 lead heading into the half time break.

Senegal's control became unassailable in the second half. Ismaila Sarr doubled their lead in the 56th minute, before Pape Gueye scored a brace with goals arriving in the 59th and 71st minute respectively.

Iliman Ndiaye rounded off Senegal's goalscoring haul with an 82nd minute strike to seal the emphatic 5-0 victory.

This result sees Senegal finish third in the group on 3 points, retaining their chance of qualifying for the Round of 32 via the best third-placed nation rankings. Iraq meanwhile exit the tournament having failed to collect a single point across all their matches.