Mbappé and Haaland fire France and Norway to World Cup wins

Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland turned Group I’s opening night into a study in how elite scorers bend a tournament. Mbappé’s two goals carried France past Senegal 3-1 in East Rutherford, New Jersey, while Haaland’s brace powered Norway to a 4-1 win over Iraq and, for now, first place in the group on goal difference.

Mbappé’s night carried the sharper institutional weight. The France captain moved to 58 goals for Les Bleus, passing Olivier Giroud as his country’s all-time leading scorer, and reached 14 World Cup goals, moving beyond Pelé and Lionel Messi and within two of Miroslav Klose’s record. Didier Deschamps said Mbappé “could have scored four or five goals,” a verdict that fit France’s control after a loose first half and a stronger second period. For a team that won the World Cup in 2018 and finished runner-up in 2022, the result was less about survival than about how much damage Mbappé can do when France find their rhythm.

Haaland delivered a different kind of message. Norway’s 4-1 win over Iraq was the country’s first World Cup victory since 1998, and it came in Haaland’s debut match at the tournament. Iraq, back at the World Cup after a 40-year absence, were swept aside by the physical force and finishing that have made the Manchester City striker one of the sport’s defining forwards. Norway and France both finished their opening Group I matches on three points, but Norway led the standings on goal difference, a useful cushion in a group that also contains Senegal and Iraq.

The comparison now turns on scale as much as scoring. Mbappé is already producing in a team with recent knockout pedigree and a record of going deep. Haaland’s start is just as violent in front of goal, but Norway still have to prove that one emphatic opening can become a sustained run. In a group billed as one of the tournament’s strongest, both forwards have made their teams dangerous. Mbappé has given France the profile of a title contender again. Haaland has given Norway something they have not had at this level in decades: a credible path out of the group and into the wider bracket of the tournament.