{"id":50279,"date":"2026-06-26T20:11:50","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T14:26:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/?p=50279"},"modified":"2026-06-26T20:11:50","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T14:26:50","slug":"mbappe-v-haaland-as-france-face-norway-in-world-cup-group-decider","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/mbappe-v-haaland-as-france-face-norway-in-world-cup-group-decider\/","title":{"rendered":"Mbappe v Haaland as France face Norway in World Cup group decider"},"content":{"rendered":"
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LOS ANGELES, United States, June 26:<\/strong> A mouthwatering duel between in-form goalscorers Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland will take centre stage at the World Cup on Friday as France face Norway in a crucial Group I decider.<\/p>\n

Real Madrid star Mbappe and Manchester City striker Haaland have started the tournament in blistering form, neck-and-neck on four goals apiece in the race for the Golden Boot, just behind leader Lionel Messi on five.<\/p>\n

On Friday the two forwards will meet in a heavyweight collision at Foxborough, outside Boston at 12:45 pm Nepali time, with top spot in the group up for grabs.<\/p>\n

France, who looked majestic in swatting aside Senegal and Iraq, hold a slight advantage, with their superior goal difference meaning Les Bleus need only a draw to clinch first place in the group.<\/p>\n

But the Norwegians have been equally impressive, routing Iraq 4-1 in their opener before beating Senegal 3-2 on Monday.<\/p>\n

Haaland, playing in his first World Cup, has revelled in the global spotlight, playing with a swashbuckling gusto that could well ask hard questions of even France’s experienced defence.<\/p>\n

The 25-year-old has also embraced the tournament off the pitch, delighted at his ability to go sightseeing in New York City in relative anonymity.<\/p>\n

After clinching a place in the last 32 with the win over Senegal, Haaland insisted he was not fussed at the prospect of facing France — who he regards as favourites for the tournament — and laughed off suggestions that Norway were title contenders.<\/p>\n

“To win the World Cup, absolutely not,” he told Fox television.<\/p>\n

“We’ve won 12 competitive games in a row now. I’m part of something special, making history, and I’m extremely proud to be Norwegian,” adding that he “couldn’t care” about playing France.<\/p>\n

“They’re probably going to win against us, they’re probably going to win the whole tournament,” he said.<\/p>\n

– Deschamps blow –<\/p>\n

France and Mbappe’s preparations for the game have been disrupted by the temporary departure of manager Didier Deschamps from the team’s camp this week following the death of his mother.<\/p>\n

Assistant coach Guy Stephan will take charge of the team until Deschamps’ returns.<\/p>\n

“I am thinking a lot about Didier and his family,” Stephan said. “I am just trying to make a difficult situation as normal as possible.”<\/p>\n

France, though. will be eager to avoid a slip-up, knowing that finishing second in the group gives them a potentially more hazardous path to the July 19 final.<\/p>\n

A defeat would set up a last 32 clash with Ivory Coast, before a potential meeting with Brazil in the last 16. England could potentially lie in wait in the quarter-finals, with Argentina seeded to be their opponents in the semi-final.<\/p>\n

In other games on Friday, Spain will aim to clinch top spot in Group H with a potentially awkward clash with Uruguay in Guadalajara, Mexico.<\/p>\n

The Uruguayans will need to take at least a point from the fixture to have a chance of progressing to the last 32 after being held to a 2-2 draw by lowly Cape Verde in their second game.<\/p>\n

Spain will clinch first place in the group with a draw.<\/p>\n

Cape Verde meanwhile will attempt to continue their fairytale campaign with a victory over Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n

In Group G, Egypt will attempt to clinch top spot with victory over Iran in Seattle in a game that has been laced with controversy.<\/p>\n

Friday’s game is part of city-wide events to celebrate Pride in Seattle, and was designated as the “Pride Match” by local officials before the identities of the teams involved was known.<\/p>\n

Iranian and Egyptian officials have both raised objections to the Seattle Pride celebrations around their fixture.<\/p>\n

Homosexuality is illegal in Iran under Islamic law and can be punishable by death. In Egypt, homosexuality is often penalized under vaguely worded laws prohibiting “debauchery.”<\/p>\n

In the other Group G game, Belgium’s ageing squad featuring Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku will attempt to reach the knockout rounds with a victory over New Zealand.<\/p>\n

If they succeed then that will likely eliminate Scotland, bottom of the 3rd place ranking after defeats by Morocco and Brazil.<\/p>\n

“I think we just let ourselves down a bit,” said Scotland midfielder Lewis Ferguson.<\/p>\n

“It’s going to be nervy watching some of the games and looking out for the results… it’s just a waiting game.”<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Ecuadorian president Daniel Noboa declared Friday a public holiday in the South American nation after their 2-1 win over Germany secured a spot in the last 32.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES, United States, June 26: A mouthwatering duel between in-form goalscorers Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland will take centre stage at the World Cup on Friday as France face Norway in a crucial Group I decider. Real Madrid star Mbappe and Manchester City striker Haaland have started the tournament in blistering form, neck-and-neck on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":50280,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","category-main-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50279"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50279"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50281,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50279\/revisions\/50281"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}