Turkey beats North Macedonia in preparation for the World Cup
The Turkish national team achieved a big victory over its counterpart North Macedonia with a clean sheet, on Monday, at the "Çobani" stadium in Istanbul in its first friendly in preparation for the 2026 World Cup.
The goals of the Turkish national team were scored by Orkun Kokçu, Can Ozun, Deniz Gül, and Parış Alber Yılmaz in the 2nd, 16th, 53rd, and 70th minutes, in an experiment through which the Italian Vincenzo Montella, the team's coach, tried to check on the readiness of all his players before announcing his final list.
The number of players on the expanded list is set to shrink from 35 to 26 players before traveling to the United States on Tuesday, where the team will play its second pre-season game against Venezuela on Sunday (June 7th) in Florida.
Turkey will begin its participation in the World Cup, which is hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico by facing Australia in Group D on June 14, then Paraguay on June 20, and the United States on June 28, and this participation is the third participation of the Turkish team in the World Cup after the 1954 edition in Switzerland (exited the group stage), and the 2002 edition in South Korea and Japan, which is the historic and best participation, as it blew a resounding surprise and won the third place after beating South Korea 3-2.
Norway beat Sweden 3-1 in friendly despite Haaland's absence
Norway won a friendly against Sweden 3-1 in the match that was held on Monday evening in the capital, Oslo, as part of the teams' preparations for the World Cup finals in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
The Norwegian victory came despite the absence of its most prominent stars, led by striker Erling Haaland and team captain Martin Odegaard, as the hosts decided the match early with three goals in the first half.
Jürgen Strand-Larssen scored the first and third goals in the 9th and 37th minutes, benefiting from two assists from defender Julian Ryerson. Antonio Nossa added the second goal in the 19th minute after a pass from Sander Berg.
In the second half, Sweden reduced the deficit through Alexander Isak in the 77th minute, but did not succeed in returning with the result.
This victory comes to enhance the performance of the Norwegian team, which has performed at strong levels during the European qualifiers, as it achieved a series of remarkable victories and its attacking line scored 37 goals, making it considered among the strongest on the continent.
The match saw Haaland watched from the stands, while Odegaard was absent after playing for Arsenal in the Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain.
Norway are preparing for a final friendly against Morocco in New Jersey, before the start of their World Cup campaign, where they will play in Group N alongside Iraq, Senegal and France.
Sweden, who qualified through the European Championship after beating Poland, are in Group F, where they face Tunisia, the Netherlands and finally Japan in the group stage.