Key events
61 min Édouard Mendy is still on the ground getting what appears to be his upper right leg tended to by the trainers.
A bit of a barnstorming golden boot race afoot, with Messi on five goals from two games but both Mbappé and Haaland already on four. Maybe Harry Kane has another brace in him, too…
Norway does mighty work to make their sequence count after a sliding cross by Pedersen skirts past everybody as Nusa and Haaland get in each other’s way trying to shoot. Half-time sub Patrick Berg gets to the ball and sends it right back to Haaland in the heart of the mixer, whose inner-foot shot kisses off the underside of the crossbar to restore a two-goal Norske advantage.
GOAL! Norway 3-1 Senegal (Haaland 58)
HE’S DONE IT AGAIN! BACK-TO-BACK MULTI-GOAL GAMES FOR MESSI, MBAPPE, AND NOW HAALAND!
56 min Fox’s broadcast is already calling for votes on the player of the match. A bit early, especially considering the game has only just come to life!
55 min Finally, Senegal is able to make a mark! A long ball from the back finds Sadio Mané, who cuts infield and passes it to the midfield. Rather than recirculate, Senegal plays it right back up the gut to Mané, who gets it into the box for an onrushing Sarr. Far from pretty as Sarr is taken to ground, but he’s able to swing a leg at the ball and direct it beyond Nyland in goal.
And now two subs for Senegal: Pape Gueye and Malick Diouf off, Ibrahim Mbaye and Ismail Jakobs off.
GOAL! Norway 2-1 Senegal (I. Sarr 53)
This game has come to life over the last 15 minutes of action!
52 min Senegal nearly has their response! A long cross from the right finds Nicolas Jackson rising over Torbjørn Heggem at the far post, but his header is pounced upon by Nyland.
Stop me if you’ve heard this already, but Norway incisive to make Senegal pay after a mistake. A midfield turnover sets Norway on a four-on-three break, with Ødegaard making a confident dribble into the final third before playing an inch-perfect through ball into Haaland’s stride. It’s a trademark finish for the Man City man, with goalscorer and assister convening at the corner flag for a posed celebration.
58 Norway goals from 52 caps for Haaland. Not bad!
GOAL! Norway 2-0 Senegal (Haaland 48)
46 min They’ve resumed their trotting in East Rutherford.
One change for Norway, which makes sense as they used one of their three windows in the 13th minute. Fredrik Aursnes comes off after a fairly anonymous half, while Patrick Berg checks in and will slot into midfield.
Reader Kári seems to have spotted a way for Senegal to get back into this…
Senegal have been trying to score by getting towards the byline and sending in crosses. This Norwegian defense is good at dealing with that. But in Iliman Ndiaye, the Elephants have a player whose very adept at creating chances from the middle of the opponents’ third of the pitch. I wouldn’t be surprised if Pape Thiaw sends him on relatively early.
Ndiaye would certainly provide a needed jolt for Senegal. I also wouldn’t rule out a tournament debut from the bench from Pape Sarr, who tends to play directly and could force Norway’s midfield to backpedal a bit.
A perfect 50/50 possession split through the opening half, but Norway’s slim 8-6 shooting advantage is a bit deceiving. Norway has generated three of the game’s four ‘big’ chances, with a commanding 1.22-0.32 xG advantage driving home how much more dangerous their chance creation has been thus far.
Your updated Group I standings with Norway up at the break and France having capped a 3-0 win over Iraq…
1) France (6 pt, +5 GD)
2) Norway (6 pt, +4)
3) Senegal (0 pt, -3)
4) Iraq (0 pt, -6)
HALF-TIME: Norway 1-0 Senegal
Neither team is especially at its best, but Norway doing just enough to capitalize on some sloppy play by Senegal after the hydration break. Haaland still hasn’t found his seemingly requisite goal; Pape Thiaw will have to make some adjustments to help Senegal slow Norway’s roll.
45+3 min Almost another Norway goal off a Senegal mistake! Erling Haaland pounced on an indecisive Édouard Mendy for a shot at an open net but clangs his attempt off the post. Norway quickly able to send in a cross, only for Mendy to save Haaland’s header around his goal-line.
Senegal struggling to get much going since conceding.
45 min Four minutes of stoppage left with Senegal quickly working to find an immediate equalizer. Malick Diouf’s cross just bypassed its target, while Krépin Diatta’s ensuing cross led to a shanked effort by Ismaila Sarr.
Quite a way for Marcus Pedersen to score his first international goal, having begun the game on Norway’s bench. Kalidou Koulibaly betrays his experience by failing to clear the ball in time, leading to a short-range sequence for Norway ending in Pederson’s first goal in 33 caps.
The game had just begun to get stretched, and with so much focus on the center, Pedersen was able to pounce.
GOAL! Norway 1-0 Senegal (Pedersen 43′)
Just as the game began getting a bit stretched, the early substitute opens his international goalscoring account!
Barney Ronay
Norway v Senegal has a brass band playing jazzy tunes in the Hydration Break. This is a desecration of the hydration break. The hydration break has gone.
37 min Better from Norway! Antonio Nusa looped a ball from outside the final third to Erling Haaland, who deftly lays it off with his left foot to an onrushing Martin Ødegaard. The Arsenal midfield is able to get a shot on goal, albeit right at Édouard Mendy for a reflex save. Still, needed signs of life in a game that lost much of its verve with the drinks break.
34 min A bit to be desired from Ørlan Nyland’s distribution, playing a loose ball to his center-back that was nearly intercepted in close proximity to the box before clattering a long ball off of Erling Haaland’s shoulder blades.
33 min To be fair to Diatta and Sarr, both teams have come out of the hydration break playing a bit more sloppily than before. Norway seem eager to reassert themselves as the match’s protagonist after largely ceding momentum to Senegal, though they’re struggling to sustain possession beyond their own half in recent minutes.
30 min Senegal seem determined to establish its right flank to open up some space for Sadio Mané across the pitch, but Krépin Diatta and Ismaila Sarr are struggling to connect often enough to really ramp up the pressure on Norway.
28 min Some one-two work at the left corner of Norway’s box between Nicolas Jackson and Sadio Mané ends with Jackson skying a shot beyond the far post.
Posture all wrong there, leaning back as he fired, but Senegal have generally done well to establish themselves in the match after Norway’s opening four-pack of corners.
26 min As play resumes, Julian Ryerson appears to be icing his right quad, so his status will be closely monitored like any leg muscle injury.
23 min – Everybody take some sips, it’s hydration time!
22 min Senegal is doing well to limit Norway’s passing lanes toward Erling Haaland, who has just two touches in the opening 21 minutes.
Lionel Messi followed his opening hat-trick with a brace, while Kylian Mbappé scored on both sides of the weather delay for a second brace in as many games. We could be in for an all-timer of a Golden Boot race; will Haaland help his cause today?
19 min Early stages, to be sure, but an emerging pattern where Norway are owning the central zones and half-spaces while Senegal are thriving along the flanks. Senegal has turned down some right-sided advancement in their past two sequences, though, seeming to want to establish the central route as a viable option.
16 min Senegal finally get their first corner kick of the contest, which is promptly sent over everyone in the box for a Norway throw-in.
Already 14 goals from corner kicks through 40 games at this World Cup. Won’t be a surprise if that total increases given Norway’s size and Senegal’s skill.
13 min – Norway substitution: Julian Ryerson off early
Marcus Pedersen (Torino) has checked in for Norway right-back Julian Ryerson. A tough blow for the Uefa qualifiers, as Ryerson is among the best chance-creating full-backs in Europe.
Pedersen a bit more of a defensive option along the back than the Dortmund defender, though he managed to play a touchline cross to Ødegaard at the edge of the box, which the Arsenal midfield promptly sends over the bar. Still, a bit of appreciative applause after some anguished yelping from the Norway captain.
12 min Fox commentators Ian Darke and Landon Donovan vouch for the quality of the pitch, with Donovan saying it is adequately slick for an attacker-friendly game.
Norway already looking to their bench and signaling about a potentially necessary early sub…
10 min After an errant pass at the edge of the final third by Nusa, Diatta cuts into the channel to draw a foul midway into the Norwegian half.
Senegal unable to find a target with the ensuing free kick, but slowly but surely the reigning Afcon finalist is keeping Norway from settling into a rhythm. Still very little involvement from Sadio Mané thus far.
6 min Ismaila Sarr fashions the first meaningful chance for Senegal, playing a mid-height cross to Nicolas Jackson inside the six-yard box, only for Ørjan Nyland to make a crucial diving swat to keep the ball from finding its target.
5 min It looks as though play has finally resumed between France and Iraq after a two-hour delay. You can follow along with Tim de Lisle’s live blog on a second tab!
3 min A quartet of early corner kicks for Norway to start, already 80% of the way to matching their total against Iraq.
The third time was nearly the charm thanks to Kristoffer Ajer’s forehead, but an impressive kick save from Édouard Mendy has kept things level and relieved some pressure for Senegal.
KICK-OFF
1 min They’re off and trotting in East Rutherford! Plenty to play for between Group I’s teams drawn from Pots 2 and 3.
One fanbase will row their viking ship, the other is bound to keep a lively atmosphere.
So much of what Norway do well comes up the heart of the pitch, from Ødegaard’s string-pulling to the scoring potential of Haaland and Sørloth. Keep an eye on their left wing, though, as Antonio Nusa will look to challenge Senegal’s attack-minded right-back Krépin Diatta.
Nusa struggled to dribble through Iraq’s defense at times, largely playing closer to the center line than the opponent’s box, but managed five passes into the final third and was dispossessed only once. His build-up could help disorganize Senegal’s midfield to open more space for Ødegaard.
This is just the second matchup between Norway and Senegal, coming just over two decades after the first.
On 1 March 2006, in the build-up to that summer’s World Cup in Germany, Senegal bested Norway 2-1 at their national stadium, Stade Léopold Sédar Senghor. The goalscorers that day: Moussa N’Diaye, Babacar Guèye, and Erik Hagen.
Preamble
Weather seems to be just about the only thing that can slow France down in Group I, with their game against Iraq still in a holding pattern with players milling about on the pitch in Philadelphia. All clear in East Rutherford, though, so Norway and Senegal will be kicking off shortly.
As with any World Cup, the matchups between different confederations have become especially fascinating. For a Senegal side with a point to prove following that chaotic Afcon final, this is a potential statement matchup to win against a Uefa side on the rise. For Norway, the aim continues to be proving that they can progress as a collective rather than being overly reliant on their star men: Erling Haaland – who bagged a brace in the opener against Iraq – as well as Martin Ødegaard and Alexander Sørloth.
Norway can advance to the knockouts with a win, while Senegal can neither be eliminated nor advance based on today’s result. Should be a fun one!
Jeff will be here shortly, in the mean time here’s Jonathan Wilson on a big tournament for African teams:
On Monday evening local time at New York New Jersey Stadium, Senegal will face Norway in a game that is not only crucial in terms of who qualifies from Group I, but will go a long way in determining how African performance at this World Cup is viewed. This is not entirely fair – nobody can seriously doubt that Senegal are an extremely adept side, and it may be that the court of arbitration for sport decides that they are indeed the reigning African champions – but there is a sense that Africa could do with a big performance.
No region benefited as much from the expansion of the World Cup as Africa. In Qatar in 2022, five of the 32 slots (16% of the field) went to the Confederation of African Football (Caf). Of the 48 slots this time around, nine went automatically to Caf, and they secured a 10th when DR Congo beat Jamaica in an interconfederational playoff in March. Caf had lobbied for years for more representation, arguing it was unfair that it had only five slots for its 54 members, while Conmebol, the South American confederation, had four plus a playoff for 10 members (21% of the field). The response was that Conmebol sides had won the World Cup nine times, while Caf sides had only made the quarter-finals on three occasions. By the end of the last World Cup, Conmebol were up to 10 victories and Caf had its first semi-finalist.
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