Norway open FIFA World Cup 2026 campaign with dominant 4–1 win over Iraq in Group I

In Football, Norway returned to the FIFA World Cup in style with a 4-1 win over Iraq in their Group I opener at the Boston Stadium in the United States this morning. Norway’s Erling Haaland netted twice to make his World Cup debut special. The scoreline now puts Norway at the top of Group I.

Earlier, France defeated Senegal 3-1 in the opening game of Group I of the FIFA World Cup 2026 at New Jersey Stadium last night. Kylian Mbappe scored a brilliant brace to become France’s all-time leading scorer with 58 goals. He also surpassed Lionel Messi in the all-time World Cup scoring charts.

In the game, Senegal matched France in a tightly contested first half, but the breakthrough came just after the hour mark when Michael Olise played a precise pass into Mbappe, who calmly finished to open the scoring. Paris Saint-Germain forward Bradley Barcola doubled the lead in the 79th minute, delicately lifting the ball over Edouard Mendy after coming off the bench, before Ibrahim Mbaye pulled one back for Senegal to reduce the deficit. The next target for Mbappe will be Miroslav Klose’s record 16 World Cup finals goals. The Frenchman currently has 14 in the global showpiece.

Earlier, Iran secured a hard-fought 2-2 draw against New Zealand in their opening match at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. In another fixture, Uruguay and Saudi Arabia played out a 1-1 draw in their opening clash in Miami. Belgium and Egypt also shared the points with a 1-1 draw in their Group G opener at the Seattle Stadium.