France ends  Iraq's dream  of winning the World Cup with a clean sheet

The French national team managed to achieve its second consecutive victory in the 2026 World Cup, and this time it was the turn of the Iraqi national team to be the second victim of the Roosters, after the Philadelphia evening ended with a clean sheet in favor of Kylian Mbappe and his companions, after Senegal's hat-trick in the opening match of Group Nine, which also includes Norway.

The match started with high pressure by the runners-up of the last edition, which was met by an Iraqi bloc in the first and second third of the field, hoping to get out of the first half with the least losses, but Mbappe's talent had a different opinion, after his left foot appeared in the lights, with a rocket shot he fired from the border of the box, which went in a difficult place on the defender of the Mesopotamian Lions' den, so that the French team took the lead at the 30th minute.

Didier Deschamps' men made do with some timid attempts on goalkeeper Bassel Fadel, while Graham Arnold's side looked to have woken up from their deep slumber after the players returned from the first cooldown, but lacked sharpness in the final touch in the final third of the pitch.

While the Iraqi national team tried to start the second half from where the first half ended, the defender and goalkeeper fell into the block, with a joint lapse near the six-yard area, and the immediate punishment came with a pass from Ousmane Dembele to Mbappe, who found it not the slightest difficulty in depositing the ball in the empty goal of his keeper.

From that moment on, the true face of the French team was revealed, with a tsunami of 100% sure chances, including a cinematic shot by magician Michel Ulysses creatively over the Iraqi goalkeeper, but from his bad luck it hit the crossbar.

In the 66th minute, the match practically ended with France scoring the third goal, after a silky pass by the best player in the world, Ousmane Dembele, who took off like an arrow to the right, and finally shot a creeping ground ball to the right of the overwhelmed goalkeeper from inside the action box.

The Lions of Mesopotamia had some chances in the last quarter of an hour, most notably a golden opportunity for Ali Hammad a meter away from the goalkeeper's net, but he met the cross ball sent from the left side, with a touch that passed near the left post by millimeters.

With this result, the French national team has accompanied the first batch that qualified for the round of 32, after reaching the sixth point in the first two matches, and vice versa for the Iraqi team, whose hopes of qualifying ended by failing to achieve even one point in the first two matches.

Haaland's new brace against Senegal

Erling Haaland has gifted his country Norway a ticket to the round of 32 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, scoring a brace in the win over Senegal 3

East Rutherford (United States): Erling Haaland gifted Norway a ticket to the round of 32 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup by scoring a brace in a 3-2 win over Senegal on Monday at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford (New Jersey/New York) in the second round of Group N competition.

Haaland scored the second and third goals in the 48th and 58th minutes, after substitute Markus Holmgren Pedersen opened the scoring for Norway (43).

Norway, who won their second in a row after a 4-1 draw against Iraq in the first round, took their tally to six points in Group N, one behind France, who beat Iraq 3-0 earlier.

The two teams will meet in the third and final round in a summit that will decide the identity of the leader on the 26th of this month, as Norway needs a win to decide it, while a draw is enough for France to maintain it.

Under the watchful eyes of Prince Safir Magnus and Princess Ingrid Alexandra, the sons of Norwegian Crown Prince Haakon, and in the presence of their fans, who painted the stands red, they achieved their fourth win in 10 matches in four World Cup appearances (1938, 1994, 1998 and 2026).

Haaland, Manchester City's top scorer, also reached his 59th international goal in 52 matches, a figure that is considered an extraordinary number for the national teams, in addition to four goals in the current World Cup in two matches after a double against Iraq in the opener.

Senegal, on the other hand, suffered their second defeat in the current World Cup, after a first defeat to France (1-3) in the first round, and their sixth defeat in 14 matches in four World Cup appearances as well (2002, 2018, 2022 and 2026).

The Norwegian team started to press from the start of the match, getting four corner kicks in the first five minutes, one of which was close to opening the scoring, when Julian Ryerson played a ball from the left side into the six-yard area that Christopher Ayer turned with a header, but Senegalese goalkeeper Edouard Mendy saved it brilliantly (3).

The Scandinavian national team received a heavy blow when right-back Ryerson, who had a lot of effort and one of the keys to his offensive game, was injured, and was replaced by Pedersen (13).

But Pedersen, from the first touch of the ball, played a neat cross from the right side, which was met by Martin Odegaard with a left-footed shot from inside the box that hit the crossbar (14).

The Norwegian advantage continued to create chances against Mandy's brilliance: Antonio Nosa played a long ball from the left towards the box, which Haaland set up with a perfect header for Odegaard, but the latter's left-footed shot from close range was brilliantly saved by the Saudi Al-Ahli keeper (38).

Catastrophic mistakes for Senegal

As fate would have it, the Norwegians were able to find a way to get the ball through substitute Pedersen, as after Senegalese captain Khalidou Coulibaly made a catastrophic mistake in passing the ball, the golden substitute snatched it and shot it with his right hand from the right side inside the area, which Mendy was unable to do to his left in the tight corner (43).

After Koulibaly, it was Mendy's turn to make a catastrophic mistake as well. He lost the ball inside the area to Haaland, but the latter fired a left-footed shot into the right post from close range, even though the goal was in front of him (45+4).

Haaland tried again, and after a neat cross from the left flank played by Fredrik Orsnis, Norway's all-time top scorer rose and turned the ball over with a header from close range, which Mendy brilliantly saved before crossing into his own goal (45+4).

With the third set and after a counter-attack, Haaland singled out the goal, taking advantage of a neat through pass from Odegaard, and slotted the ball into the net in a perfect way with his left from inside the area (48).

The Senegalese national team did not stand idly by, as Nicholas Jackson played a header from close range, which was saved by Norwegian goalkeeper Orian Nyland (52).

But the latter stood helpless in front of Sarr, who crowned a coordinated collective attack punctuated by a series of elaborate passes, with a left-footed shot from the edge of the six-yard area, which settled into the top right corner (53).

Haaland brought the difference back to two goals, taking advantage of a cross from the left inside the area played by another substitute, Patrick Berg, who turned it "on the fly" with his right hand from close range into the roof of the net (58).