Source :- THE AGE NEWS
A special guest crashed Portugal coach Roberto Martínez’s news conference Friday: Grammy winner Dua Lipa.
Her sound, anyway.
Speakers inside the interview room at the stadium started blaring some of Lipa’s songs for a few minutes in the middle of Martínez’s availability session. It wasn’t totally clear why — some wires got crossed, evidently, during a rehearsal happening inside the stadium — but nobody seemed to mind.
Martinez even swayed a little in his chair while workers tried to find a way to silence the music.
Three goals in 32 minutes. What a match for Dembele.
Surely Norway could have found a way to stop Dembele, for he scores his third on the same side of the pitch, again with his left foot into the same side of the goal.
This time, Aurelien Tchouameni will get the assist.
Dembele, who has appeared in two previous World Cups – including France’s victory in 2018 – had never scored in a major tournament before. Now, he has four goals in this World Cup putting him tied in second place for the golden boot race with Haaland, Mbappe and Vinicius Jnr.
It’s also the first time there’s been a hat-trick in the first half of a World Cup match since 1994.
France 3-2 Norway, 32 minutes
If Senegal’s 1-0 lead remains intact until the end of the game, it won’t guarantee them a spot in the last 32 as one of the eight best-placed teams that finish third in their pool, but it will hurt Scotland.
On the live rankings list, they now sit ninth, which makes them the first team to miss out.
Back on the field in Toronto, we’ve had our first half hydration break, and action has resumed.
Senegal 1 -0 Iraq, 33 minutes
This match is as good a time as any to revisit the great backstory of how Australian Graham Arnold led Iraq to the 2026 World Cup. There were plenty of reasons why the venture should have failed, but with Arnold’s leadership and a resolute group of players, great things were achieved.
Read Vince Rugari’s profile piece on Arnold’s Iraq adventure here
We have a twin goal in France v Norway with yet another Dembele goal and Mbappe assist.
Either side looked like they could have been building to a goal, but it’s France who get one first.
Despite having his shirt tugged, Mbappe found the pass out to Dembele again on the right. Mbappe went down and the referee played advantage to France before Dembele struck this time with his left foot, again soaring past Norway’s keeper and into the goal.
Play resumes and no more than a minute later, Norway score. It’s too easy for them with just four passes after the whistle blew, before Thelo Aasgaard strikes with his right foot into the bottom-left corner of the goal.
A bad start for Iraq is quickly turning into a nightmare. After a VAR intervention, the yellow card that was initially brandished to defender Rebin Sulaka has been upgraded to a red.
Star Senegal striker Sadio Mane was about to shoot on goal before he was dragged back via a tug on his jersey. Even the most fervent Iraq fans would agree that any slim hopes they held of scoring the huge win they needed to get through to the round of 32 are now probably gone.
As for Senegal, it’s another boost. Can they cash in on it?
Senegal 1 -0 Iraq, 14 minutes
It’s Ousmane Dembele – with an assist from Kylian Mbappe – which opens the scoresheet for France in the sixth minute.
Mbappe won the ball in the middle third before finding a pass across the pitch to Dembele on the right. Dembele then flew to the centre of the pitch and didn’t wait long to strike with his right foot into the back-left of the goal.
That’s a stunner and will look good to the many who tipped France to win this tournament.
There’s a feeling that this isn’t a true clash in the end with so much of Norway’s best on the bench. But to score in the sixth minute is still telling of which team could be more dominant with every star on the field.
France 1-0 Norway, 6 minutes
The dreams of Senegal will have grown as they’ve scored a goal inside the opening four minutes.
Defender Abdoulaye Seck met a corner kick with a powerful header that sailed into the back of the net. It was a dream start for the African nation, one that will have only cemented the hopes they hade of advancing to the round of 32 pre-game. Now, they’re probably going to need a few more goals.
Senegal 1 -0 Iraq, 4 minutes
Both matches have now kicked-off in Boston and Toronto. A moment of silence was held before the Norway v France match to honour the victims of the Venezuela earthquake.
Senegal need a handy win to become one of the eight best third-placed teams, and Iraq need a victory by at least four goals in order to start dreaming of a round of 32 appearance.
On the form we’ve seen so far in the tournament, the former seems the more likely outcome.
But, with Australian coach Graham Arnold in their corner, who knows what is possible for an Iraq team that shocked the football world by even making it to this tournament.
Here we go.
