World Cup Group I Preview
The hardest group at this tournament has three teams that will fancy their chances of making at least the quarter-finals: France, Senegal and Norway and poor Iraq, who, despite being pretty good as pot 4 teams go, have been handed a death sentence before a ball has even been kicked
Group I fixtures (all kick-off times are in BST)
France vs Senegal 16th June 8pm
Iraq vs Norway 16th June 11pm
France vs Iraq 22nd June 10pm
Norway vs Senegal 23rd June 1am
Norway vs France 26th June 8pm
Senegal vs Iraq 26th June 8pm
France
2018 winners and beaten finalists in Qatar, France boast what might be the most talented international team of all time. There are no weaknesses, and all the reserve players start for at least 42 of the 48 teams at this tournament. The squad, quite frankly, is a joke, especially going forward, where they boast Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doue, Michael Olise, Bradley Barcola and Reyan Cherki; all 6 of these guys start for every other national team in the world, and Mbappe, Olise, Dembele and Doue have all been unbelievable at club level this season.
Defensively they're not much weaker than in attack; Mike Maignan is a great goalkeeper, and Dayot Upamecano, Jules Kounde and William Saliba are all great centre backs, although Kounde is likely to start at right back the only slight question at the back is Theo Hernandez at left back he was great for France at the last world cup and euros but now plays in Saudi Arabia so it has to be seen if he is still at the same level he used to be.
The one question mark for this team is in Midfield. Warren Zaire-Emery is amazing, and at only 20, he will be in this team for the next 15 years. The question is who plays next to him, and there is a chance Zaire-Emery plays at right back, which he has done at times for PSG this season. N'Golo Kante is still in the squad at 35 and is now back in Europe with Fenerbahçe after leaving Saudi Arabia, but Kante is one of those players who I've never seen have a bad game, so until I see it I'm not worried by Kante. Aurelien Tchouameni and Adrien Rabiot are the other two in contention to start; both are great players when they're on it but have had turbulent seasons at club level, but if the biggest question mark in the starting level is Aurelien Tchouameni, I think France will be alright.
The only other question mark is how Deschamps will manage all the massive egos at the top of the pitch, cause Deschamps likes a taller target man through the middle, which is why Marcus Thuram and Jean-Phillippe Mateta are in the squad to replace the now-retired Olivier Giroud, who fulfilled that role at the last few tournaments if he starts one of Mateta or Thuram that means one of Dembele, Olise and Doue wont be in the team and that could cause issues of the pitch especially as Kylian Mbappe at club level has consistently proven he is hard to play with and be in the same squad as first at PSG and now at Real Madrid.
That being said, there is no way they don't get out of the group, even if that is finishing 3rd, which, given the group, is a possibility as unlikely as it is. If the attack gets rolling at any point, the tournament is over just crown France winners but if they struggle to find a consistent starting attack, they could get upset relatively early in the round of 16 or quarters, but they are the favourites for the whole thing given the absolute state of the front line on paper.
Senegal
The most consistent team in Africa over the past 8 years and reigning AFCON champions, this squad is coming to the end of the golden generation they've had, but by no means are they any weaker than they were at any point over the past 8 years. They might even be stronger, as the depth is now much better, despite the original great Senegalese players like Sadio Mane and Kalidou Koulibaly no longer being at the peak of their powers; the next generation is coming through, rounding out what is one of the best squads an African team has ever had alongside Ivory Coast and Morocco at this tournament.
The squad is good in every position bar maybe right back, with Edouard Mendy still in goal at age 34 but he has top level experience with Chelsea and Rennes and despite now playing in Saudi shouldn't be a problem for Senegal then in front of him Kalidou Koulibaly is almost certain to start at centre back and at 34 like mendy he's been there done that and will still be good for this team next to him im hoping is Mamadou Sarr who at 20 has played minutes for Chelsea and Strasbourg this season and is a perfect illustration of the next generation coming through while the old generation have their swansong. Left back is another youngster in El Hadji Malick Diouf who, despite getting relegated with West Ham this season, I think he will be one of the best attacking left backs in the world over the coming years as he is only 21 and already has bigger clubs than West Ham circling for his signature. Right back, as I mentioned, might be a slight problem, with one of Krepin Diatta and Antoine Mendy likely to start, but these guys both play in Ligue 1 for Monaco and Nice and never before has an African team's problem been a guy starting in a top 5 league in the world.
The group of midfielders is great with the eternal Idrissa Gueye still here at age 36 and still as good as ever he is backed up by a group of younger guys who all play in the best leagues in the world in Lamine Camara of Monaco, Pape Matar Sarr of Spurs and Habib Diarra of Sunderland all of these three are 23 and under and all of the have at least 20 caps so they know what they're going throw in Pape Gueye of Villarreal in as well and this is a great group of midfielders.
Going forward, Senegal are no weaker than the greatest Senegalese player of all time in Sadio Mane, who is still here, as is Ismaila Sarr, who has been in and around the squad and playing well for Senegal for a decade and they're backed up Iliman Ndiaye who could well be one of the stars of the tournaments hes the guy in the forward line who can score a goal out of nothing and drag them through games against the best teams in the world hes been getting better and better for Everton over the past couple seasons and this tournament could well earn him a move to one of footballs elite clubs. These are likely to be the three guys playing behind Nicolas Jackson upfront who scored 8 in 23 for Bayern Munich this season, but he could also be usurped in the starting eleven by 18-year-old Ibrahim Mbaye, who is a very exciting forward who has played 33 games for PSG over the last two seasons despite being just 18.
All in all, this Senegal team is great; maybe they're lacking the star names that Norway have, but I'd again be amazed if they don't pummel Iraq and get through the group as one of the best 3rd placed teams, and that is the floor, and the ceiling is going really deep potential semi-finals or deeper. I don't think they can quite win it, but nobody wants to play Senegal in the knockout rounds; just ask England and Brazil, both of whom have lost to Senegal since the last World Cup.
Norway
Norway are back at the World Cup for the first time since 1998, and unlike Scotland and Austria, who are both returning for the first time since 1998, Norway have a real chance to go really deep in this tournament despite this only being their 4th major tournament ever, as they haven't made the Euros since 2000 either. They are led by the best striker on the planet in Erling Haaland, who has a quite frankly ridiculous 55 goals in 50 caps for Norway; only Gerd Muller and Sandor Kocsis come even close to the 1.1 goals a game in international football. When Haaland puts a Norway shirt on, he is ridiculous. Norway are also the main reason Italy aren't even here, as they battered their qualifying group, scoring 37 goals in 8 games, only conceding 5, including a 3-0 and 4-1 win over Italy. Norway are by no means a one-man team.
To accompany Haaland upfront are Alexander Sorloth and Jorgen Strand Larsen, and like Haaland, these are tall, strong strikers who are great in the air. They aren't as good as Haaland as they don't have his freakish athleticism, but Sorloth has scored 33 in 70 for Atletico Madrid since joining them in 2024, and Strand Larsen has scored 17 goals over the past two Premier League seasons for Wolves and Crystal Palace, so they're great going forward even if Haaland gets injured.
The wingers and attacking midfielders getting the ball forward are no weaker, with Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard leading the group that also includes RB Leipzig star Antonio Nusa, Benfica's Andreas Schjelderup, Fulham's Oscar Bobb and one of the key players on Bodo/Glimt's run in the Champions League in Jens Petter Hauge. It's likely to be Odegaard and Nusa starting in Norway's 4-4-2 formation, where Odegaard is allowed to float wherever he wants, and Nusa holds the width on the right generally.
Norway's tactic works as it gives the 4 forward players the freedom to do what they want in front of a very solid midfield pair that will definitely include Sander Berge of Fulham and either Fredrik Aursnes of Benfica or Patrick Berg of Bodo/Glimt these three are all very similar big physical prescenses who will look to win the ball back and quickly get the ball to Odegaard and let him create.
If there is a question mark it's the back four but Kristoffeer Ajer of Brentford is a good centre back and Julian Ryerson is a great right back and David Moller Wolfe of Wolves is a good option at left back the second centre back will be slightly weaker whether that is Leo Ostigard of Genoa or Torbjorn Heggem of Bolgna both these guys are consistent top 5 league level defenders so shouldnt be a problem and then in goal will be Sevilla's Orjan Nyland so again shouldnt be a problem
As you can see, Norway have at least a good player in every position on the pitch, like Senegal, but where they elevate themselves is Haaland, Odegaard and Nusa in the forward positions who would all be Senegal's best player, which is why I give them the edge over Senegal in what should be an amazing game. The question is, will Norway finish 1st or 2nd in the group if they draw with France? I'd bet on Norway having a better goal difference, as they've shown in qualifying they don't relent when they hit the front; they love scoring 4 or 5 in a game.
The floor of the teams is finishing third in this group on 4 points; I can't see anything other than a huge win vs Iraq, and I don't think they will lose to Senegal. The ceiling for this team i think they can win the whole thing. It will require Haaland to score like 12 goals in 8 matches, but it is definitely a possibility.
Iraq
Poor Iraq getting thrown into the tiger pit with this group. Three of the best 12 teams at the whole tournament in their group means they don't really have any chance to get out of the group at their first World Cup since 1986, where they lost all three games. It is a shame we're not going to get to see much of Iraq at this tournament, cause if they were in many other groups they'd have a good chance of claiming a scalp, as this team is not the worst team at this tournament by any means. They have made the knockout rounds at every asian cup since 1992; this is a consistently competent national team.
They narrowly missed out on automatic qualification in the first group stage by 1 point to Jordan, then missed out on goals scored in the second group stage to Saudi Arabia; then they had to beat UAE 3-2 on aggregate just to get to the intercontinental playoff, where they beat Bolivia in a game they were heavy underdogs for they probably had the most brutal path of any team that is at this tournament showing how mentally tough they are to overcome so many narrow misses to still somehow make it to their second World Cup.
The squad doesn't even come close to comparing to the other three teams in this group, with only 8 of the 26 playing in Europe or South America and none of those playing in any of the top 5 leagues, but a few have played there previously; midfielder Zidane Iqbal came through Man United's academy and played a few times before moving on to Utrecht in the top flight of the Netherlands. Striker Ali Al-Hamadi played for Ipswich in the Championship and Premier League; Aimar Sher made a few appearances for Spezia in Serie A and now plays in Norway, but the standout player in this squad is Ali Jasim, who is currently on loan from Como to Saudi Arabia where he has been in good form as a winger who can beat a man and create and score if Iraq are to do anything its likely to come from the 22 year old.
This group is a nightmare, and the likely outcome is Iraq get 0 points and don't score a goal, but I hope they can at the very least score because this team isnt bad enough to be remembered as a team that didn't score at a World Cup. I think the ceiling is still only getting a point against Norway or Senegal.
Predictions
In my predictions, Senegal progresses as one of the 8 best third-place teams
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