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Norway coach Stale Solbakken admitted his side were punished by France's quick transitions after losing possession in dangerous areas in their FIFA World Cup 2026 Group I match in Boston on Friday.
Despite the defeat, he insisted Norway created enough chances to score more, pointing to four big opportunities in the first half and several more throughout the match. Solbakken praised his players' attacking intent but stressed that mistakes in possession proved costly against a clinical French side. Ousmane Dembele's outstanding hat-trick powers France to a commanding 4-1 victory over Norway "It goes very fast when we lose the ball a few times. Offensively, we created chances throughout the whole game, so the boys should have credit for that. It was not only in the second half that we created chances, but we also created big chances," Solbakken said as per Reuters. "We had four big chances in the first half, so I think we deserve credit for it, but you can't lose the ball in certain areas here, because it goes so fast the other way," Solbakken said. Both sides had already secured qualification for the knockout stages after winning their opening two matches. France topped the group on goal difference heading into the fixture and required only a draw to finish first. However, they emphatically ended the group stage, sealing a commanding victory to confirm top spot in Group I. Manchester City star Erling Haaland, Arsenal star Martin Odegaard, and Alexander Sorloth were not starting for Norway in their final group stage match against France. The decision to rest some of the key players from Norway was made by Solbakken, who has decided to rest players ahead of the Round of 32. Solbakken defended his decision to rest key players, saying that while fans would have preferred to see them play, prioritising squad freshness was essential to ensure Norway's World Cup run could go as far as possible. "The only argument for not doing what we did (resting 10 players) is that the fans around Norway and here could have seen Erling and (captain) Martin (Odegaard), but then it wouldn't be a long World Cup, and that's what we're here for - we're here to go as far as possible," he added. (ANI)
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