France and Norway battle for leadership of Group I in Boston on Friday after both booking spots in the World Cup knockouts with two wins from as many games. Star strikers Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland go head to head in the race for the top scorer’s Golden Boot, though the Manchester City forward starts from the bench as Norway look to rest players ahead of the round of 32. Follow our live, minute-by-minute match commentary.
The lineups
Norway: Egil Selvik – Leo Ostigard, Fredrik Bjorkan, Henrik Falchener, Patrick Berg – Kristian Thorstvedt, Thelo Aasgaard, Andreas Schjelderup, Oscar Bobb, Fredrik Aursnes – Jorgen Strand Larsen
France: Mike Maignan – Jules Koundé, Dayot Upamecano, Maxence Lacroix, Theo Hernandez – Manu Koné, Aurélien Tchouameni – Michael Olise, Désiré Doué, Ousmane Dembélé – Kylian Mbappé.
Les Bleus have been rampant in these opening minutes.
Egil Selvik shows great reflexes to deny Koundé and Kone’s rebound, but he’s powerless to keep out Dembélé’s blistering effort from the right.
France’s fowards are all over the Norwegian defence and it was only a matter of time before they found the opener.
Mbappé almost scores after 21 seconds!
Mbappe races down the right, enters the box, and unleashes a ferocious shot from a tight angle that bounces off the crossbar!
We’re off!
Norway, in red, get the ball rolling.
Les Bleus are wearing their white away jersey.
Minute of silence for Venezuela quake victims
The players are on the pitch, observing a moment of silence for the victims of the earthquakes in Venezuela.
France’s players will no doubt be thinking of their grieving coach, too.
Norway’s coach has laid a wreath in front of Les Bleus’ bench, in a thoughtful gesture towards his French counterpart.
France’s answer to the Viking Row
Looks like it’s the iconic French croissant.
Senegal face Iraq in Group I’s other game
In tonight’s other Group I match, Senegal face Iraq in a game both sides need to win to have a shot at advancing to the knockout stage as a third-place team.
Mory Diaw will start in place of injured Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy against an Iraq side that added Ali Alhamadi and Ahmed Qasem to their attack.
We’ll keep you update on the score in this live.
‘All the pressure is on France’
It’s already been a splendid World Cup for Norway supporters, who enter the match with “no pressure” and promising to show “the Viking spirit” on the pitch and in the stands.
Here’s what they have to tell our journalist Juliette Montilly outside the stadium in Foxborough.
As was rumoured in the buildup to the match, Haaland will start from the bench as coach Stale Solbakke makes 10 changes to his squad, looking to rest key players.
Guy Stéphan, stepping in for Deschamps, makes four changes, with Mbappé among the starting XI.
Norway: Egil Selvik – Leo Ostigard, Fredrik Bjorkan, Henrik Falchener, Patrick Berg – Kristian Thorstvedt, Thelo Aasgaard, Andreas Schjelderup, Oscar Bobb, Fredrik Aursnes – Jorgen Strand Larsen
France: Mike Maignan – Jules Koundé, Dayot Upamecano, Maxence Lacroix, Theo Hernandez – Manu Koné, Aurélien Tchouameni – Michael Olise, Kylian Mbappé, Désiré Doué – Ousmane Dembélé.
Grieving Deschamps to miss game
France’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.
Assistant coach Guy Stephan takes charge of the team until Deschamps’ returns.
“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.”
Norway to be ‘more smart than greedy’
Norway coach Stale Solbakken has warned he will be resting players for the match against France with the knockout stage looming, adding that he expected Les Bleus to do the same.
“It is an important game (against France) but the most important is the round of 32,” Solbakken told a press conference ahead of the game.
“Knowing the prerequisites… we don’t know how many games we will get. It is 100% certain that we will need to be rested for the round of 32 mentally and physically. It could be that we have to play 30 minutes of extra time or penalties.”
Several of his players suffered from cramps in their 3-2 victory over Senegal with Solbakken blaming it on high humidity in New York, and not enough hydration for some of them.
“We are very happy having six points. We can learn a lot from France because they have been in this situation. They are going to game three and will rest some players. We should not become too greedy. We have to be more smart than greedy.”
A mouthwatering duel
Mbappé and 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.
Mbappé’s four goals so far mean he is also in pursuit of the all-time World Cup scoring record, now held by Messi on 18.
Haaland, thriving at his first World Cup, has played down expectations ahead of the match, telling reporters Norway would “probably lose” and that France would “probably win the tournament”.
Welcome to our liveblog
France take on Norway in a highly anticipated Group I finale in Foxborough, near Boston, knowing a draw will be enough to top their World Cup group owing to their slightly better goal average.
The match has been billed as a showdown between two of the world’s most prolific goal-scorers, Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland, both of whom are off to a flying start in the race for the Golden Boot.
Kick-off is at 3pm local time (9pm Paris time).
Two of the world’s most fearsome strikers face off at the World Cup on Friday as France and Norway battle for leadership of Group I at Foxborough stadium, outside Boston.
Two-time champions France hold a slight advantage, with their superior goal difference meaning Les Bleus need only a draw to clinch first place in the group.
