Duel of giants for the leadership
France and Norway have already qualified for the round of 32. But tomorrow at the Gillette Stadium in Boston they will seek first place in Group I. The Gauls lead by better goal difference, thanks to Kylian Mbappé’s four goals, the same number that Erling Haaland has with the Nordics.
The match, refereed by Englishman Michael Oliver, also pits two contenders for the scoring throne against each other. Lionel Messi surpasses them with five goals in his sixth World Cup, and is the all-time leading scorer with 18. Mbappé has 16 in World Cups. Haaland celebrates 59 goals in 52 games with Norway (1.13 average), in his first World Cup.
Deschamps’ temporary goodbye
Didier Deschamps, who won the World Cup as a player (1998) and coach (2018), left the camp due to the loss of his mother, Ginette. He will be replaced by his assistant Guy Stéphan.
“We are all close to Didier and his family. I will try to handle this difficult situation in the best possible way,” Stéphan declared at a conference.
Stéphan acknowledged that “this is not my place. My place is on the training ground.” He had already taken over in 2022, when the coach’s father died. He assured that “Didier wants us to finish first in the group because the logistics will be totally different.”
What is at stake
The first of Group I will face one of the best eight third parties in New Jersey. The second will clash in Dallas against the second in Group E. If France is the escort, it will have to move to places further away from its base.
France has the absence of defender William Saliba due to a back problem. He will be replaced by Maxence Lacroix along with Dayot Upamecano to contain Haaland. The Gauls conceded only one goal in the tournament (against Senegal). Norway celebrated seven goals, but conceded two.
“We will make some changes. We want to win, but the need to regulate our energy indicates that other players will have their opportunity,” anticipated Norwegian coach Stale Solbakken.
Senegal and Iraq face off in Toronto. Both are forced to win to maintain their chances of qualifying as the best third place, but with negative goal differences (-3 and -6) they find it difficult. Senegal, with Sadio Mané and company, seeks to avoid repeating the elimination in the group stage of Russia 2018.
