CHICAGO — Erling Haaland has played down the magnitude of Norway’s decisive Group I clash against Kylian Mbappé and France on Friday by saying Les Bleus “will probably win against us.”
Norway and France both sealed qualification for the round of 32 on Monday with victories against Senegal and Iraq, respectively and the two nations meet in Boston on June 26 tied on six points, but with 2018 World Cup winners France in top spot due to a marginally superior goal difference.
Ismaïla Sarr’s second goal for Senegal in their 3-2 loss to the Norwegians in New Jersey three minutes into stoppage time denied Norway the chance to go into Friday’s France clash as group leaders, so Stale Solbakken’s team must now beat Didier Deschamps’ side to qualify as Group I winners.
But despite Norway needing to beat France, Manchester City forward Haaland said he “doesn’t care” about the result because his team have already achieved their pre-tournament objective of reaching the knockout stage.
“Honestly I don’t care too much [about the France game],” Haaland told Fox Sports. “We’re through, we managed to get through, which is incredible.
“So I couldn’t care too much about that game now. They [France] are probably going to win against us, they’re probably going to win the whole tournament.”
Friday’s game will also see Haaland go head-to-head with Mbappé in Boston with both players having scored four goals in two games so far in the World Cup.
Argentina’s Lionel Messi leads the race for the Golden Boot with five goals, but Norway coach Solbakken said that Haaland is the best striker at the tournament.
– Haaland is on a collision course with Mbappé, and the World Cup is better for it
– France star Kylian Mbappé is fast becoming ‘Mr. World Cup’
– Messi, Haaland, Mbappé, Kane: Who will be the World Cup’s top scorer?
“Today he did miss an open goal [against Senegal] and he could even have scored even four,” Solbakken said.
“No, I mean, he is the best striker — he is not playing for France or Argentina, he scores for Norway.
“He’s scored four goals now, two braces on the biggest stage. It’s easier to win the Golden Boot when you play for France and Argentina. But we’ll try to give Erling more games, and more help also in the next games.
“So he’s on fire and I’m very happy for him that he can score on the biggest stage.”
