Erling Haaland was right about France – but Norway robbed fans of World Cup highlight | Opinion

FOXBOROUGH, MA – Maybe Erling Haaland had the right idea about his Norway squad’s match Friday against France. 

And maybe he was right about France winning the World Cup – not that he was going out on a limb in the first place. 

Haaland, after Norway had already secured its place in the knockout stage, admitted Norway would have its hands full against France when the group finale rolled around. That was especially the case as the Norwegians opted to trot out the “B Team” – all but one of the starters from their 3-2 win over Senegal four days earlier started the match on the bench – against France. The game ended in a 4-1 French victory. 

The French dominated from the opening seconds, literally, as Kylian Mbappé’s strike in the first minute banged off the crossbar. Ousmane Dembélé scored six minutes later with relative ease to begin the deluge. Dembélé’s encore was even more spectacular, as his second goal of the match was a left-footed curler from the top of the box that put France up 2-0 in the 20th minute. 

Haaland and Norway did the international soccer version of “thanks but no thanks” and thought that resting was a higher-value play than potentially winning the group, as is their prerogative. But why not at least entertain the idea of winning the group and finishing with nine or seven points, instead of settling for six? 

In this expanded World Cup, although most matches have been imbued with excitement, few stand out on paper the way this one did. But this one had the obvious headline of “Haaland vs. Mbappé,” two of the best strikers in the world having the chance to settle some debate on the World Cup stage. The decision by manager Ståle Solbakken robbed fans of that spectacle. 

“We must not be the country that comes here and plays dumb," Solbakken said. "So we are here to go as far as possible. And then we have to make the decisions – or I have to make the decisions – that I think are right for us to go as far as possible. But, of course, I feel a little bit (badly) about it."

Had that choice to sit starters been more justified, such as Mauricio Pochettino's a night prior with the United States already assured first place in their group, the complaints would have less basis. Both teams wound up on the losing side. Only one had good reason.

Making it out of the group was the team’s primary goal — Solbakken was overjoyed to the point he wound up in the MetLife Stadium stands following his squad’s win Monday over Senegal that secured their advancement in the tournament. 

That France’s back line had issues with Norway's backups gave credence to the idea that this could have been a more equal battle with both sides at full strength. Defender William Saliba, a 6-foot-4 presence in the back, was out with injury. 

“I would (be lying) if I said that I wasn't a little bit surprised for sure, but at the end of the day, we just adapt, no matter which player we have in front of us, we always try to do our best and win,” France defender Jules Koundé said. “We wanted to finish first in the table and that's what we did. So pretty happy about it.” 

At one point in the first half, as Norway threatened to equalize and the score was 2-1, I wondered why Haaland sat on the bench with a chance to win the group. The answer came almost immediately, when Dembélé mirrored his second goal with another brilliant left-footed strike – this one inside the box – to make it a two-goal game once more. 

In the opening minutes of the second half, Norway had a prime opportunity to make it a one-score game. But French keeper Mike Maignan stonewalled Jørgen Strand Larsen’s penalty attempt and kept it 3-1. Debating whether Haaland would have netted his penalty is not the point – it’s that he should have been the one lining it up anyway. During the 67th minute, fans on the south side of Gillette Stadium started chanting for Haaland. Solbakken understood the fans' disappointment but emphasized that he won't make strategic decisions based on the emotions of a fan base – or an entire country.

“They want to see Erling, they want to see Martin (Ødegaard), so that’s the only reason that you can feel something about the way we lined up today," Solbakken said. "But hopefully because of that, we can give them some good summer nights in the next weeks."

The reasons for sitting Haaland and Co. revolve around health concerns and potential card worries. Haaland hadn’t been booked yet this tournament and appeared healthy enough in the team’s first two matches, in which he twice scored a brace. Haaland scored 16 times in the team's eight qualifying matches. The 25-year-old is basically good for a pair a game. 

Solbakken cited that Ivory Coast will have an extra day of rest when the two teams meet in the round of 32 and that Norway will have an extra plane ride on top of changing hotels.

To win the game, you gotta be in it, though. France’s stars were on the pitch. They won. Oversimplification? Sure. But sometimes, the answer is easier than presumed to be. And for some reason, Norway decided to play the best team in the world with the difficulty turned all the way up. The “Red, White and Blue” won’t hate their matchup against Ivory Coast. Winning the group in their first World Cup since 1998 would have been the bigger win, though. 

"Of course, now we are more focused on the knockout stage," midfielder Marcus Holmgren Pedersen said. "We need to be fit and have good energy. So that’s the main target."

Midfielder Patrick Berg called it a "win-win situation" with rest for the main players and a deserved opportunity for those who have been training with the national team for an entire cycle.

"We tried our best to win the game," he said. "In the end, France is a top, top team and they deserved the win and deserved to be on top of the group."

With Didier Deschamps home in France mourning the loss of his mother, the team was managed by his longtime assistant, Guy Stephan. If that led to any negative effect on the pitch, it was negligible. 

Perhaps the fate of this match was decided long ago, before Haaland uttered his prediction into a microphone Monday. Perhaps the entire tournament is fait accompli, with the runners-up from four years ago destined to lift the trophy for the second time in three tournaments. 

"I think they are one of the clear favorites, yeah, no doubt about it," Berg said. "They have a really strong team – not only the 11 that start the game, but also the subs that come on are top international players. So yeah, they look really strong and see themselves as big favorites. They’re here to compete and here to win the tournament."

Norway could have had a say in that. They opted not to. Les Bleus march on as the prohibitive favorites – and everybody knows it, even the opposition.