Norway Clinch Thriller to Qualify as Jordan are Eliminated

Two more sides sealed their passage through to the last 32 of the 2026 World Cup last night, while Jordan became the fourth side to exit the competition.

Following Lionel Messi’s masterclass (missed penalty aside) in their 2-0 win over Austria in the early game, France took to the field in Philadelphia to face an Iraq side that were beaten 4-1 by Norway in their opener.

And it was a similar story of dominance for their opponents here, with Les Bleus camped in the Iraqi half for the opening quarter of an hour, culminating in Kylian Mbappe drilling home from distance after 14 minutes to put his side on their way to the knockouts.

And despite a laboured display for the rest of the half, France created chances at will in the second, and the match was out of sight by the hydration break, as Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele helped themselves to goals.

Also at the double was Erling Haaland, whose two goals helped Norway beat Senegal 3-2 in a thriller in New Jersey.

An end-to-end first half looked like ending goalless, before Kalidou Koulibaly gifted the ball to Marcus Pederson on the edge of the box, and the Torino man gleefully smashed the ball home.

That sparked a frenetic start to the second half that saw three goals in the opening 13 minutes of it. Haaland got his first after 48 minutes, before Ismaela Sarr scrambled home five minutes later to keep his side in it.

But Haaland tapped home again just before the hour-mark to establish a two-goal lead, and although Sarr found the net in injury time, it wasn’t enough, with Norway and France top of the group on 6 points each, with both Senegal and Iraq pointless after two games.

Finally, in Group J, Algeria got their first three points of the campaign by coming from behind to beat Jordan, in a result that knocked their opponents out of the tournament.

Nizar Al Rashdan put his side ahead with a crisp finish with the outside of his foot to give Jordan a surprise lead after 36 minutes.

But Algeria’s dominance - summed up by 72% possession - told in the 69th minute, as Nadhir Benbouali headed home from a corner to restore parity, before Amine Gouri tucked away a loose ball in the area eight minutes from time.

Algeria face Austria in their final group early on Sunday morning, with a draw likely to send both sides through to the knockouts.