DON'T MISS THE MATCH
- TV & Streaming Guide: How to watch France vs Norway tonight
- Opposition Scout: Check out the full Norway World Cup squad here
World Cup 2026 is the final tournament for the iconic Didier Deschamps, who is still only one of three men to have won the Coupe de Monde as a player and a manager – and Les Bleus are here as one of the favourites yet again, with a squad that still looks stronger than most on paper.
Real Madrid's boy-king Kylian Mbappe is captaining the side in his third tournament, and has started in red hot form, becoming France's all-time top scorer and joint second in the all-time scoring charts at the World Cup.
Mbappe is flanked by superstar talent, as Ousmane Dembele, Michael Olise, Desire Doue, Rayan Cherki and Marcus Thuram, who are all competing for starting berths in attack, ahead of Warren Zaire-Emery and N'Golo Kante, who have an age difference of 15 years.
An uninspiring opening 45 minutes in New Jersey luckily wasn't a sign of things to come, as Senegal were dispatched in their opening group game.
Iraq (eventually) suffered the same fate as their game faced a two hour weather delay, but perhaps Les Bleus biggest test still awaits.
Mbappe and Erling Haaland will lock horns as both teams look to secure top spot in Group I in what is set to be a mouthwatering encounter in Boston.
Who is France's manager?
Only three people have won the World Cup as a player and manager: Mario Zagallo, Franz Beckenbauer and Dider Deschamps.
Initially taking charge on a two year contract Deschamps has been in the France hot-seat for 12 years, but will step down after Les Bleus exit the 2026 World Cup.
He guided them to a second star in 2018, and agonisingly missed out on winning back-to-back World Cups on penalties in 2022, but will go down a France legend no matter the result in Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Confirmed Norway vs France line ups
Norway (4-3-3): Selvik; Aursnes, Falchener, Ostigard, Bjorkan; Thorstvedt, Berg, Aasgaard; Schjelderup, Strand Larsen, Bobb
France (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Kounde, Upamecano, Lacroix, Hernandez; Tchouameni, Kone, Dembele, Olise, Doue: Mbappe
The Mood
If talent alone were enough to win a World Cup, hand France the trophy now. Les Bleus have frequently beguiled at these quadrennial jamborees – think Raymond Kopa in the 1950s, prime Michel Platini in the 1980s, Zinedine Zidane’s dancing feet in 1998 and 2006 – but the sheer number of brilliant attackers boarding the plane across the Atlantic is unique.
In the VIP section sits captain and, unofficially the world’s best player Kylian Mbappe. Next to him in the aisle seat is close friend and Ballon d’Or holder Ousmane Dembele. In business class, you will find Europe’s best player under 21, 2025 Golden Boy award winner Desire Doue, alongside 24-year-old Michael Olise – 15 goals and 27 assists in all competitions for Bayern Munich by mid-March – and Manchester City’s Rayan Cherki, 23. All three take part in a first major tournament.
It says everything that France legend Antoine Griezmann’s international retirement last year passed off with little comment. Far from lacking a successor at No.10 for the man of many hairstyles, France have too many.
One might argue Didier Deschamps is the worst possible manager to oversee a squad like this. Heavily influenced by his peak playing years at Juventus, Deschamps takes a ‘results first, everything else second’ approach to the job.
As an arch-pragmatist, however, Deschamps also understands the value of maximising strengths. He may be a little too pleased with goalless draws at times, but he also grants his players greater attacking licence than many give him credit for.
France scored four times in both the last 16 and the final when they won the 2018 World Cup. They netted two or more in all four of their knockout games as they finished runners-up in Qatar four years ago. So far in America they have scored three times in each game. Goal tallies may not always reflect methodology, but they rarely occur as frequently as they have under Deschamps entirely by accident.
After France's opening 45 minutes against Senegal you wouldn't have been wrong to suggest that maybe it was too much this year, maybe they needed someone else at the helm to really squeeze out every drop of talent from this squad.
But you would have been mistake. France burst into life in the second-half and carried on their performance against Iraq in their second game.
They now face Erling Haaland and Norway and know a draw will see them finish top of the group and no one will want to face them at that point.
If Les Bleus’ most gifted players continue to express their artistic talents, the return flight will be with a 36.8cm-high, 6.175kg block of gold for the second time in three tournaments. And it will be a victory for neutrals everywhere.
Squad
France World Cup 2026 squad
- GK: Mike Maignan (Milan)
- GK: Brice Samba (Rennes)
- GK: Robin Risser (Lens)
- DF: Lucas Digne (Aston Villa)
- DF: Jules Kounde (Barcelona)
- DF: Theo Hernandez (Al-Hilal)
- DF: Lucas Hernandez (Paris Saint-Germain)
- DF: Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich)
- DF: William Saliba (Arsenal)
- DF: Ibrahima Konate (Liverpool)
- DF: Malo Gusto (Chelsea)
- DF: Maxence Lacroix (Crystal Palace)
- MF: N'Golo Kante (Fenerbahce)
- MF: Adrien Rabiot (Milan)
- MF: Aurelien Tchouameni (Real Madrid)
- MF: Manu Kone (Roma)
- MF: Warren Zaire-Emery (Paris Saint-Germain)
- FW: Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid)
- FW: Ousmane Dembele (Paris Saint-Germain)
- FW: Marcus Thuram (Inter Milan)
- FW: Bradley Barcola (Paris Saint-Germain)
- FW: Michael Olise (Bayern Munich)
- FW: Maghnes Akliouche (Monaco)
- FW: Desire Doue (Paris Saint-Germain)
- FW: Rayan Cherki (Manchester City)
- FW: Jean-Philippe Mateta (Crystal Palace)
Strengths
The phenomenal final third. Mbappe, Dembele, Olise, Doue, Cherki, Bradley Barcola, Marcus Thuram – there is such joy in simply reading the list that it is disheartening to learn that only four are likely to be on the pitch at one time. That is Deschamps’ biggest challenge: how to turn the surfeit of creative firepower into an effective, balanced unit.
Weaknesses
The midfield. Roma midfielder Kouadio Kone, Real Madrid’s Aurelien Tchouameni and Adrien Rabiot of Milan are fine footballers but – with apologies to the latter’s mum – peak-2018 Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante they are not. For all France’s depth, the one area of the pitch where they will be forced to make do and muddle through is the centre. Do teams with middling middles win World Cups? They were 5-1 down to Spain in the 2024-25 Nations League semi-final before a late rally.
Fixtures and results
Fixtures
- June 26, 2026: Norway vs France, Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts, United States
- September 25, 2026: Turkey vs France, Turkey
- September 28, 2026: Belgium vs France, Brussels, Belgium
- October 2, 2026: France vs Italy, Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France
- October 5, 2026: France vs Belgium, Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France
- November 12, 2026: Italy vs France, Italy
- November 15, 2026: France vs Turkey, Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France
Results
- June 22, 2026: France 3-0 Iraq, Philadelphia Stadium, Pennsylvania
- June 16, 2026: France 3-1 Senegal, MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States
- June 8, 2026: France 3-1 Northern Ireland, Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille
- June 4, 2026: France 1-2 Ivory Coast, Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes, France
- March 29, 2026: Colombia 1-3 France, Northwest Stadium, Landover, United States
- March 26, 2026: Brazil 1-2 France, Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, United States
- November 16, 2025: Azerbaijan 1-3 France, Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium, Baku, Azerbaijan
- November 13, 2025: France 4-0 Ukraine, Parc des Princes, Paris, France
- October 13th: Iceland 2-2 France, Laugardalsvollur, Reykjavik, Iceland
- October 10th: France 3-0 Azerbaijan, Parc des Princes, Paris, France
- September 9: France 2-1 Iceland, Parc des Princes, Paris, France
- September 5: Ukraine 0-2 France, Tarczynski Arena Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland
- June 8: Germany 0-2 France, MHPArena, Stuttgart, Germany
- June 5: Spain 5-4 France, MHPArena, Stuttgart, Germany
- March 23: France 2-0 Croatia (5-4 pens), Stade de France, Paris, France
- March 20: Croatia 2-0 France, Stadion Poljud, Split, Croatia
Group I standings
France are in Group I at World Cup 2026.
Star player
Who is France's star player?
It speaks to Kylian Mbappe's superhuman powers that it felt like his tally of 43 goals in his debut season was about on par with the impact he was expected to have, and yet even despite upheaval in Los Blancos' dugout he managed to continue his exploits into his second season.
Mbappe ranked at no.1 in FourFourTwo's list of the best strikers in the world right now, has been on fire so far at the World Cup. He became France's all-time leading scorer and moved level with Miroslav Klose on 16 World Cup goals, the second-most in tournament history after just two games.
He already has an undeniable World Cup legacy as the second teenager ever to score in a World Cup final, the second ever scorer of a hat-trick in a World Cup final, and the highest World Cup final goalscorer of all-time with four goals. There's no doubt he is already on course to create more history this summer.
Best XI
