Norway vs France LIVE: World Cup result and reaction as Thierry Henry sounds warning despite rout in Boston

Erling Haaland enjoyed a rare rest on Friday as Norway took on France in Boston, but he might not be thanking his manager. Stale Solbakken’s bold call to change 10 of his starting XI for Norway’s third group game put a pin in Haaland’s Golden Boot race for a few days, and gave a helping hand to one of his rivals as Ousmane Dembele scored a sublime hat-trick in France’s 4-1 win.

Not that Solbakken will lose any sleep over it. “I don’t care at all,” he said this week when asked about Haaland’s pursuit of an individual award and whether that might be jeopardised.

Solbakken signposted in his press conference this week that he might rotate his Norway team. Interestingly, he was taking inspiration from France themselves after Didier Deschamps rested players in their final group game in Qatar four years ago, where Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele all started on the bench.

Piece by Lawrence Ostlere:

Are France THE favourites for the tournament right now? Most people thought it’d be them or Spain going all the way, with a decent amount of picks for Argentina, too.

But France look perhaps the most well-rounded right now, the most comfortable at this level.

They won 4-1 today and, yes, Norway fielded a team of 10 changes (with no Haaland or Odegaard), and the underdogs missed a penalty, but France looked like they had another gear that they could’ve used if needed.

“Anything can happen. Three games… they had their biggest talent individually, they’re shining; the PSG players are shining; even the goalkeeper made saves, he’s shining.

“It’s the defending. If they want, they can win it. By seeing them play, it’s fun, the combination.

“ It’s not easy, part of the job of the manager is to combine and work them together; they need to work together, they’re all connecting.”

Bottom of the group with zero points, Iraq face the reality that their World Cup is over.

“It’s a different competition that starts now.

“They did what they needed to do. The penalty [that Norway missed] would have been costly. The one vs one, as a coach you’ll look at it.

“They could play Germany [in the last 16]; that’s the World Cup, it starts now.”

Unlike France and Norway, Senegal have not yet qualified for the round of 32.

As the fifth-best third-placed team, at the time of writing, they’re very much hanging in the balance.

Remember, the eight best third-placed teams go through.

We actually don’t yet know who France will play, but we know it’ll be one of the third-placed teams from Groups C, D, F, G or H.

And that last-32 tie will play out at the New York New Jersey Stadium next Tuesday, at 10pm BST.

Norway will go on to face Ivory Coast in the round of 32 next Tuesday.

That game (6pm BST kick-off) will take place in Dallas – well, Arlington, near Dallas.

That result makes Senegal the fifth-best third-placed team, as it stands, with Scotland relegated to ninth for now… It’s not looking good for them.

FT: And there’s the final whistle!

A hat-trick from Dembele and a late goal from Doue condemn Norway to second place in the group, while France emerges as winners – as expected, in fairness.