Saliba and Odegaard Lead France and Norway to World Cup Knockouts

William Saliba and Martin Odegaard both punched their tickets to the World Cup knockout stages on a wild Monday that drenched one game, stretched another’s nerves, and ended with a Viking roar.

Saliba masters the storm

In Philadelphia, the rain came down in sheets and never really stopped. It didn’t bother France. It certainly didn’t bother Saliba.

The centre-back played the full 90 minutes of a commanding 3-0 win over Iraq at Philadelphia Stadium, stitching the back line together with the calm of a veteran. He finished with seven defensive interventions and a sparkling 95% pass completion rate, a metronome in a monsoon.

Up front, Kylian Mbappe did what Kylian Mbappe does. He ripped France into a 14th-minute lead, a sharp finish that settled any early nerves. Then the weather intervened. A two-hour half-time delay, storms overhead, players waiting, cooling down, warming up again.

When the game finally resumed, France clicked straight back into gear. Lightning struck twice on the pitch this time: nine minutes into the second half, Mbappe grabbed his second, killing off any faint Iraqi hopes. Ousmane Dembele then added the third, the final flourish on a night that tested patience more than resistance.

France sit top of Group I with six points from two matches, edging Norway only on goal difference. The job is not done, but the path is clear.

Odegaard feeds Haaland as Norway edge thriller

While France cruised, Norway had to scrap.

They led 1-0 at the break in a 3-2 thriller against Senegal, Marcus Pedersen’s first-half strike giving them control. The second half belonged to their stars.

Martin Odegaard, wearing the armband and dictating tempo, produced the game’s moment of pure class. Spotting Erling Haaland’s run, he sliced Senegal open with an incisive through ball early in the second half. Haaland did the rest for 2-0, a goal that looked, for a moment, like it might settle everything.

Senegal refused to fold. Ismaila Sarr dragged them back into it, pulling one back and shifting the mood. The game opened up, stretched from end to end. Haaland struck again. So did Sarr. Norway clung to their advantage, and when the whistle finally went, they had their win and their place in the last 32.

The release was instant. Odegaard and his teammates dropped into a Norwegian Viking row celebration on the turf, a line of bodies, arms pumping in unison. Not subtle. Very clear: they are here to make noise.

England’s stars step up next

Attention now turns to Thomas Tuchel’s Three Lions, who face Ghana in a 9pm kick-off with their own ambitions of momentum and control.

Declan Rice will anchor the midfield, Bukayo Saka and Noni Madueke offer threat from wide, and Eberechi Eze brings craft between the lines. All four chase back-to-back wins, looking to match the statement made by Saliba’s France and Odegaard’s Norway.

On a day when two European contenders confirmed their presence in the knockout rounds, the question is simple: can England’s next wave keep pace?