norway vs. france (jun 26, 2026)

a very fast-paced first half played out. we don't know norway's plans for the next round exactly, but they have an air of having accepted second place in the group. so much so that they put 10 players into rotation all at once. and this inevitably reflects on the play. despite issues like the errors in defense, the inability to multiply in attack, and the failure to hold onto the ball, finding a goal still counts as an achievement... there's nothing to say about france anyway. i mean, if a team has dembele, mbappe, and olise playing together, that team losing is almost a miracle. it would take a heavy complacency for that. olise's deep, technical passes, mbappe holding up and distributing the ball like a pivot, and dembele's finishing technique reflected directly on the scoreboard. honestly, even if through naturalized players, the french national team has always kept its squads rich. it's been this way for years. and it's never short of stars, of characters who create domination. it doesn't make you say "like belgium" of one bygone era, they're always there, they can always put forth a consistency. i expect norway to start the second half with 4 substitutions. they'll be advised to be more careful in defense.

just because messi scored 5 goals in 2 matches, all the footballers started banging in two or three each and joining the race for the golden boot. the match where dembele scored 3 goals.

teams like norway are teams created to reach the quarterfinals and get knocked out. it wouldn't be haaland, even if it were odin, loki, and thor, this situation wouldn't change.