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France concluded Group I of the 2026 World Cup with a perfect record, thrashing Norway 4-1 this Friday at the Gillette Stadium in Boston, while Senegal crushed Iraq 5-0 at BMO Field in Toronto to secure a provisional spot as the best third-place team.
With these results, the and the four teams learned their fate.
France finished as the absolute leader: three matches, three victories, 10 goals scored and only two against, with a goal difference of +8 and 9 points.
The standout player of the match was Ousmane Dembélé, who scored a hat-trick, leaving the score at 3-1 by halftime. Kylian Mbappé wrapped up the score in the second half, confirming a top-level performance by the French team.
Norway, which had already secured its passage before the match, finished in second place with 6 points, eight goals scored and seven against.
Their only defeat in the group was precisely against France, although the Scandinavian team demonstrated enough solidity to comfortably advance to the next stage.
Senegal, for its part, delivered the most decisive victory of the day. The Africans overwhelmed Iraq with goals from Habib Diarra in the third minute, Pape Gueye in the 58th and 70th minutes, and Iliman Ndiaye in the 70th and 81st minutes.
The result boosted their goal difference to +2, a crucial statistic for their hopes of being the best third place in the tournament. However, the qualification remains provisional and depends on the final results of the other groups.
Iraq finished the tournament without earning a single point: three losses, one goal scored, and 12 against, with a goal difference of -11. The Iraqi team, which was participating in its first World Cup since Mexico 1986, was unable to compete at the same level as the rest of the group.
The group's journey over the three days was marked by French superiority from the very first day.
In the opening match, France defeated Senegal 3-1 at MetLife Stadium, while Norway triumphed 4-1 over Iraq at Gillette Stadium. In the second round, the French team won 3-0 against Iraq —in a match interrupted for more than two hours due to a thunderstorm— and Norway edged past Senegal 3-2 with a brace from Erling Haaland.
As they head into the round of 16, Norway has confirmed its opponent: they will face Ivory Coast on June 30 at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas. France, as the group winner, will play the same day at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey against the best third-place team from groups C, D, F, G, or H, an opponent that has yet to be determined.
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