FIFA World Cup 2026 :Canada/Mexico/United States: Discussion Thread

[MAAManda]

An exciting match, four goals in the first half & one goal in injury time of the second half. France scored four goals, while Norway, considered capable of putting France under pressure managed only a single goal, scored by Aasgaard. This result leaves France unbeaten in Group I, I really can't wait to see which teams will face them & I hope for strong opponents capable of putting up a real fight.

[Oluwa-btc]

Dembele has been carrying France big time so far with a hat-trick. I thought Mbappe would put on a show instead after seeing that Norway rotated significantly.



Norway are still not fighting badly though. They also scored and Larsen missed a penalty shortly before. I was really disappointed after seeing the rotation. Even Haaland is among the substitutes.

I was wishing Kylian Mbappe was the one with all those three goals tonight against Norway lol. I really do not want to see Lionel Messi winning the golden boot lol.
Well, despite the lose, Norway are still headed for the round of 32, it was a wise decision from the manager leaving players like Erling Haaland and Ødegaard on the bench.
I don't even know how these players miss penalties. No much criticism because even the best players miss out converting the spot kick.

[Italian Panic]

A truly outstanding performance from France, a masterclass in total football, whilst Oliseh and Dembélé were impressive. I don’t understand Solbakken’s reasoning for leaving out his best players and accepting defeat; perhaps it was to give the first-team regulars a breather, but facing stronger sides isn’t exactly a good idea.

[BIT-BENDER]

Honestly I don't agree with the thinking of the Norwegian coach, there was no reason to do such amount of replacement when you are facing a team like France, now I think Erling Haaland wasn't joking because if seems like the Norwegian teams actually wanted to lose even before the match started.
Shout out to Ousmane Dembele because non of his hat trick goal where simple, he has now enter the race for the tournament highest goal scorer and I think he actually have a big chance.

[SuperBitMan]

The moment I saw that Norway was not starting their key players I knew they are not taking the match serious especially since they knew they have already qualified for the next round in the World Cup competition, I was expecting France to win and lucky I won a bet too, congratulations to me and congratulations to France even though they will still qualify if they didn’t win the match, today was a lucky day for Dembele he scored a hat trick.

[Stavri]

An exciting match, four goals in the first half & one goal in injury time of the second half. France scored four goals, while Norway, considered capable of putting France under pressure managed only a single goal, scored by Aasgaard. This result leaves France unbeaten in Group I, I really can't wait to see which teams will face them & I hope for strong opponents capable of putting up a real fight.

tbh it was a match where winning or losing barely mattered.
winner would face a third placed team in the next round, followed by a matchup against Germany.

runner up would face Ivory Coast in the next round and then go on to play the winner of Brazil vs. Japan in the subsequent round.

[pawel7777]

(...)

It was a very balanced game I’ll tell you that match. Germany played to win but of course, you wouldn’t expect the same intensity like they had in their first game. Ecuador was the one team that had all hands on deck for this game because, it meant so much for them. This is a team that have being behind on performance, haven’t played teams we would see them to be their better without a win, they took Germany on and won.
Neuer certainly wasn’t at his best, he let several balls slip through his fingers and wasn’t proactive enough to saves. Germany lost but, they are still top of their group.

Thanks.
If that was indeed Germany playing at their 100%, I don't predict they will go very far.

Unfortunately, Norway got declassed by France, at least when it comes to the result. Norway had their fair share in number of good scoring chances and who knows how would th game go if they hadn't missed the penalty.
Norway's manager, Stale Solbakken, decided to give Erling Haaland a bit of rest, so he has more energy for the knock-out phase. Perhaps it was a good decision. I'm sure they will be the favourite in their round of 32 game against the Ivory Coast, scheduled for Tuesday.
France don't yet know their rivals.

[LUCKMCFLY]

Taking a loan to gamble is a big red flag. You are taking a loan because you have used your assets and have to keep up to recover your losses. Taking a loan is a desperate move that only those addicted to gambling will take to gamble the loan.
They do not think of the consequences; all they want is to know where to get money to continue to gamble so they can recover their losses, which has no guarantee that they can.

Anything involving gambling or borrowing money to gamble should never be done; it's one of the worst mistakes humans can make, a childish error. We need to have some common sense. Gambling is a delicate matter; you can't improvise. Anyone who improvises will have everything go wrong. Lending money for gambling is foolish on every level.

[hosemary]

I was also happy to see Senegal finish with a big 5.0 win against Iraq, wishing them both hard luck. However, It was not enough to qualify, but at least they ended their World Cup with a good performance.

Senegal are not out of the World Cup yet. With 3 points and a goal difference of +2, they still have a good chance of advancing to the knockout stage.
To qualify, Senegal need at least two of the five third placed teams from Groups G, H, J, K and L to finish the group stage worse than them.

[Rgram]

The moment I saw that Norway was not starting their key players I knew they are not taking the match serious especially since they knew they have already qualified for the next round in the World Cup competition, I was expecting France to win and lucky I won a bet too, congratulations to me and congratulations to France even though they will still qualify if they didn’t win the match, today was a lucky day for Dembele he scored a hat trick.

Why did they have to leave him out really? Such an important game against one of the very best the tournament have got to offer and somehow, they left Haaland out. I didn’t expect a match that France wouldn’t have won but, at least it would have being heavily contested. Norway didn’t have much to do tonight, it was a France dominated game from the kick off fo the final whistle. Surprisingly, they didn’t get to score more goals in the first half, they only scored 1 goal after over 4 goals in the first half.

[GiftedMAN]

Honestly I don't agree with the thinking of the Norwegian coach, there was no reason to do such amount of replacement when you are facing a team like France, now I think Erling Haaland wasn't joking because if seems like the Norwegian teams actually wanted to lose even before the match started.
Shout out to Ousmane Dembele because non of his hat trick goal where simple, he has now enter the race for the tournament highest goal scorer and I think he actually have a big chance.

The coach didn't take the game seriously since his team had already qualified for the next round. They decided to gamble the game and lost even before it started because if they wanted to have a strong competition in the match there was no need to bench his most important player. France won all their group stage matches and finished as the group leaders a beautiful performance from Ousmane Dembele and his team mates helped them to outplay their opponent and Dembele scored 3 goals to announce his name in the world as journey continues in the next stage of the competition.

[Stavri]

I was also happy to see Senegal finish with a big 5.0 win against Iraq, wishing them both hard luck. However, It was not enough to qualify, but at least they ended their World Cup with a good performance.

Senegal are not out of the World Cup yet. With 3 points and a goal difference of +2, they still have a good chance of advancing to the knockout stage.
To qualify, Senegal need at least two of the five third placed teams from Groups G, H, J, K and L to finish the group stage worse than them.

i'm still stuck on how Senegal conceded 4 goals against Norway. they played against France and would've even won the match if it weren't for Mbappe. Senegal is exactly my dream team. they press constantly all over the pitch and they have incredible ball winners. But i guess when it's not your day, it's just not your day...

[Adbitco]

Norway dropped 10 players from the initial squad that played against Senegal, they basically used their second team to play against France, it's very funny but I can understand why though. They have qualified after winning the first 2 matches and doesn't need to risk their players anymore for the third match, the knew they are no match for France so no need, they rested their players for the next round. Basically from this next stage no teams going to start resting their best legs for any reason because it's win and continue to the next stage.

[famososMuertos]

An interesting match is coming up between Uruguay and Spain, and I think this one will be a real one I mean, France won convincingly, no doubt, but I think we have to consider that Norway didn't have their starting lineup, and even so, they managed to score a goal and could easily have scored two more. So a 3-2 scoreline might be more realistic. Anyway, their odds keep dropping at the bookmakers; they're currently around 4.8 (World champion 2026). With that in mind, Spain their odds at the bookmakers might fall, and I think today we'll know if Spain is in contention for the title if they win decisively. I think Uruguay could easily tie, but watch out for a 2-1 win for Uruguay.  

[7788bitcoin]

~
The moment I saw that Norway was not starting their key players I knew they are not taking the match serious especially since they knew they have already qualified for the next round in the World Cup competition, I was expecting France to win and lucky I won a bet too, congratulations to me and congratulations to France even though they will still qualify if they didn’t win the match, today was a lucky day for Dembele he scored a hat trick.

Anyone who placed a bet before the match started would have burned their bet after seeing the Norway lineup. Who would have thought they would change the entire lineup for this match and France went with a full strength team and it was an easy win for France.

~
i'm still stuck on how Senegal conceded 4 goals against Norway. they played against France and would've even won the match if it weren't for Mbappe. Senegal is exactly my dream team. they press constantly all over the pitch and they have incredible ball winners. But i guess when it's not your day, it's just not your day...

Senegal did not concede 4 goals against Norway, they lost a tight 3-2. Norway was playing with their full strength team against Senegal unlike against France today, when they rotated 10 members from the starting lineup.

[Rgram]

Senegal did not concede 4 goals against Norway, they lost a tight 3-2. Norway was playing with their full strength team against Senegal unlike against France today, when they rotated 10 members from the starting lineup.

It was an interesting lineup from Norway and it did prove costly as the game was won right from the first half. Mbappe just kept feeding Dembele and he made sure to reward him with an assist, scoring with every strike on goal.

Another interesting game today was the Senegal vs Iraq fixture. Who would have believed the game would have a lot of goals, over 4.5. Iraq having a red card didn’t help them any much. Senegal was already leading them way early in the first half and once that red card was issued, they just became the more dominant and won the game unchallenged.

[Akbarkoe]

An exciting match, four goals in the first half & one goal in injury time of the second half. France scored four goals, while Norway, considered capable of putting France under pressure managed only a single goal, scored by Aasgaard. This result leaves France unbeaten in Group I, I really can't wait to see which teams will face them & I hope for strong opponents capable of putting up a real fight.

France are one of the best teams at the moment so naturally they are unbeaten and norway they certainly haven't been able to counter the balance that France already have, I was going to watch Haaland there but he was guarded quite tightly and didn't score a single goal, the score of 4-1 for this match is a huge difference but even like that Mbappe didn't score a goal, is he not in shape, it is very lacking in a big win if mbappe doesn't score a goal.

I hope France can go straight to Argentina, Spain or Germany to be more relaxed in the future if they manage to win their matches and knock out the main opponents at the beginning.

[nikola22]

Norway dropped 10 players from the initial squad that played against Senegal, they basically used their second team to play against France, it's very funny but I can understand why though. They have qualified after winning the first 2 matches and doesn't need to risk their players anymore for the third match, the knew they are no match for France so no need, they rested their players for the next round. Basically from this next stage no teams going to start resting their best legs for any reason because it's win and continue to the next stage.

this is a reasonable tactic for a team expecting a long tournament run. of course, the spectators were disappointed because many of them came to see Haaland but the Norwegian coach can also be understood. when so much depends on one player it's better not to take unnecessary risks. I don't think the French team was particularly tired either so this match felt more like a friendly. the real action will begin in the knockout stages.

[laspol65]

Norway dropped 10 players from the initial squad that played against Senegal, they basically used their second team to play against France, it's very funny but I can understand why though. They have qualified after winning the first 2 matches and doesn't need to risk their players anymore for the third match, the knew they are no match for France so no need, they rested their players for the next round. Basically from this next stage no teams going to start resting their best legs for any reason because it's win and continue to the next stage.

this is a reasonable tactic for a team expecting a long tournament run. of course, the spectators were disappointed because many of them came to see Haaland but the Norwegian coach can also be understood. when so much depends on one player it's better not to take unnecessary risks. I don't think the French team was particularly tired either so this match felt more like a friendly. the real action will begin in the knockout stages.

Dembele scored a fantastic hat-trick, he took Mbappe's place today. Dembele performed exceptionally in this match because Mbappe was absent, enabling his team to win.
Norway put pressure on the team at every moment, France spread its dominance at every moment. However, France will be more aggressive this year, as we will see in the next match when the 32 teams perform.

[KTChampions]

Senegal are not out of the World Cup yet. With 3 points and a goal difference of +2, they still have a good chance of advancing to the knockout stage.
To qualify, Senegal need at least two of the five third placed teams from Groups G, H, J, K and L to finish the group stage worse than them.

Yes, they still have a mathematical chance, but South Korea doesn't seem to have one. It's really cool that Senegal took advantage of a weaker opponent and created the goal difference they needed. But still, their chances are very low and it’s not about the goal difference, but about the fact that there are already 4 teams with 4+ points in third place. There's a possibility of adding one team from Group G, one from Group L, one from Group K, and two from Group J (if Austria and Algeria draw). Senegal would be three points short in any case.