Two teams with 6 points and the objective of finishing in 1st place in Group I: this Norway-France looked like a shock as a final bouquet. But the Scandinavian team showed the lesser interest it had in this meeting by notably leaving Erling Haaland, Martin Odegaard and Alexander Sorloth on the bench. A boon for the Blues, aligned in 4-2-3-1, with a few modifications all the same (Lacroix rather than KonatĂ© following Saliba’s withdrawal, KonĂ© in place of Rabiot, DouĂ© preferred to Barcola), especially since they had not won a 3rd group match, Euro and World Cup combined, for 20 years!
And clearly, the Blues wanted to interrupt this series just as they wanted to pay a nice tribute to their coach, who returned to France and was absent from this match, following the death of his mother. They thus delivered a thunderous start to the match, marked by a crossbar from Mbappé from the 20th second of play, a half-volley from Manu Koné and finally a nice goal from Ousmane Dembélé from the 7th minute. Leggy, concentrated, inspired, the French put crazy pressure on the overwhelmed Norwegians, still on a low. Mbappé alerted Nyland at the near post (17th), but it was with the pass that the captain would once again stand out. As on the first goal, he served Dembélé on the right wing. This time, the PSG player moved into the middle to curl from the left and beat the Norwegian goalkeeper a second time (0-2, 20th). Except that Norway responded from the kick-off, against the unfocused French, thanks to Aasgaard (1-2, 21st).
Maignan decisive in the 2nd period
Be careful of being overconfident, but the Blues, after a short period of hesitation, regained control of operations during this exciting first period, filled with offensive actions. Whose main performer was named Ousmane Dembélé. The latter scored an incredible hat-trick, curling a ball a second time from the left into the opposite net (1-3, 32nd). Doué, the least visible French offensive player, missed a face-to-face on an opposing error (43rd), and France could almost regret returning to the locker room with only 2 goals in advance. From the restart, Norway appeared dangerous and Bobb provoked a foul from Théo Hernandez in the area (49th). In the absence of Erling Haaland, it was Strand Larsen who stuck to it and fell on the imperial Mike Maignan, who dived on the right side.
This alert proved that the Blues had to be wary of the slightest relaxation, so they started again, but with less technical accuracy than during the first act. Barcola and Cherki entered, to blow away the hero of the evening DembĂ©lĂ© and an Olise less enterprising than during the first two meetings. Then it was Upamecano who was called back to the bench, to bring in KonatĂ©. The French team was suffering at the end of the match and Maignan still had to work hard in front of Bobb. Kylian MbappĂ©, left on the pitch and probably hungry for goals, failed to find the fault on a personal level. It was DĂ©sirĂ© DouĂ© who finished off Norway in the 94th minute, with a header from a Barcola cross. The main thing is done for the French team, with first place in group I, which allows it to both keep its base camp, limit its future travel and face a 3rd group, probably Sweden…
Relive the match film
