France
France have won four of their last five games in all competitions, including their last two away games.
Norway
Norway have won two, drawn two and lost one of their last five in all competitions.
Key Players
- There are two very different tactical setups in this contest that will be fascinating to watch and Philippe Clement, who took over as Norway manager in November 2025, has done a good job of fashioning a strong, compact system around his talisman Haaland.
- France, with Didier Deschamps still at the helm since 2012, appear to be much more fluid and attack-minded with the 4-2-3-1 base providing structure in deep areas and allowing Les Bleus to be more adventurous at the other end.
- Mbappe has scored two goals in his first Group I game while Haaland, who also has two goals in his World Cup group outings so far, is a constant threat to any team's goal.
- They are compact, have good balance and have a number of different ways to play when they have the ball, but we feel that the superior star power of France could be enough to see them win.
Betting Insights
- France are currently priced at 1.82 favourites for Friday's game, while Norway are 4.2 and a draw is available at 3.8.
- France are the favorites on the night and probably deservedly so, but they appear to be a tad short in the betting and we feel there is some value in the draw line here.
- The Over 2.5 line is just favoured here at 1.87, but we think the goal markets could be a bit shorter in a game that should see plenty of attacking flair on each side.
Prediction
A showdown of stars Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe in the USA could be a highlight of the Group I section of the FIFA World Cup 2026 and we're backing the French to edge out the Norwegians in this matchup.
