NorwayvsSenegal

Result

Erling Haaland's second-half brace carried Norway into the round of 32 at a packed New York/New Jersey Stadium. Marcus Holmgren Pedersen — on inside the opening quarter-hour for the injured Julian Ryerson — opened the scoring on 43 minutes, before Haaland struck twice early in the second half, the second a thumping volley, to put Norway 3-1 ahead. Ismaïla Sarr replied twice for Senegal, the second deep in stoppage time, but it was too late. Norway, through with a game in hand, will play France for top spot in Group I; Pape Thiaw's Senegal must now beat Iraq to keep their campaign alive.

Norway 4-3-34-2-3-1 Senegal

Norway

Senegal

Marcus Holmgren Pedersen43'

Ismaïla Sarr53'

Erling Haaland48'

Ismaïla Sarr90'+3'

Erling Haaland58'

42%Possession58%

13Shots16

7On target4

2Saves3

5Corners4

282Passes completed430

80%Pass accuracy88%

10Tackles16

24Touches in box26

Substitutions

Marcus Holmgren Pedersenfor Julian Ryersonat 13'

Ismail Jakobsfor El Hadji Malick Dioufat 54'

Patrick Bergfor Fredrik Aursnesat 45'

Ibrahim Mbayefor Pape Gueyeat 54'

Andreas Schjelderupfor Antonio Nusaat 71'

Mory Diawfor Édouard Mendyat 63'

Oscar Bobbfor Alexander Sørlothat 84'

Pathé Cissfor Lamine Camaraat 63'

Leo Østigårdfor Torbjørn Heggemat 84'

Pape Matar Sarrfor Kalidou Koulibalyat 72'

At this Stage

Two matchdays in, Group I has split clean in half: France and Norway sit on six points apiece with round-of-32 places already mathematically secure, while Senegal and Iraq sit on none. Norway's 3-2 win over Senegal — Haaland's second-half brace trumping Ismaïla Sarr's two — keeps them a single goal behind France, +4 to +5, which turns the finale between the two unbeaten sides into a straight fight for top spot. Senegal have now lost twice to the group's powers and must beat Iraq to keep any part of their campaign alive; Iraq, at -6 with one goal scored, need rather more than a win. It took two rounds for Group I to answer its big question and replace it with a smaller, better one: not who goes through, but in what order.

Group I

Team	P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
France	2	2	0	0	+5	6
Norway	2	2	0	0	+4	6
Senegal	2	0	0	2	-3	0
Iraq	2	0	0	2	-6	0

Top two (above the accent line) advance to the round of 32; the third-placed team is in the race for one of the eight best-third spots.

What we know now

What I said beforehand

The preview, frozen at kickoff. Clearly dated, never rewritten — that's the deal that makes the predictions worth anything.

Norway to win, just. Erling Haaland marked his first World Cup start with a brace in a 4-1 rout of Iraq, and a victory would send Ståle Solbakken's side through. Senegal, beaten 3-1 by France, have the pace and pedigree to make this a contest — Sadio Mané and Nicolas Jackson lead a dangerous attack — so a tight game is likely, but Haaland's threat should just edge it at MetLife. 2-1 Norway.

Both cases written 2026-06-21, before kickoff — they freeze into the record exactly as written, however the match goes. The percentages are mine, quoted to a decimal because false precision is funnier — the unclaimed 27% belongs to the draw.