Mbappe’s France and Haaland’s Norway discover World Cup 2026 Group I rivals: Iraq to join

Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland will be seeing plenty of each other when France and Norway square off in one of the most anticipated matchups of the 2026 World Cup group stage. Group I is now complete, with Iraq earning the final spot after coming through the international playoff round.

On Tuesday, Iraq and Bolivia clashed at Estadio BBVA in Monterrey, Mexico, for a place at the World Cup, and after a 2-1 victory, the Asian nation will be competing on soccer’s biggest stage for only the second time in its history. The winner of that playoff series had already been slotted into Group I alongside France, Norway and Senegal.

With the group now finalized, Haaland, who guided Norway to its first World Cup since 1998, will open his tournament against Iraq on Matchday 1 on June 16th, while France will face the Middle Eastern nation on Matchday 2 on June 22nd. Then, on the 26th, Mbappe and Haaland will finally share a pitch at the World Cup on Matchday 3, in what figures to be a first-place showdown.

Erling Haaland holds a narrow edge over Mbappe

Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe have been two of the most prolific strikers of their generation, with each claiming one of the last three European Golden Boots. But when it comes to head-to-head meetings on the pitch, the Norwegian holds a slight edge over the Frenchman.

In matches where both players saw time, Haaland and Mbappé have crossed paths three times, with the Norwegian coming out on top twice against just one win for the French star. That lone victory for Mbappe came in the 2019-20 UEFA Champions League Round of 16, when PSG edged Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in the first leg of their opening meeting.

Haaland answered back with a 2-0 win in the second leg of that same tie, and then in the 2024-25 UCL playoff round, Manchester City defeated Real Madrid 3-2 in the first leg. Haaland sat out the second leg, and across their three most recent encounters in the 2025-26 Champions League, spanning the league phase and the Round of 16, the two have yet to share the pitch at the same time.

Head-to-head between France and Norway

On the international stage, the last meeting between France and Norway came back in 2014, a time when neither Mbappe, who earned his first cap in 2017, nor Haaland, who debuted in 2019, had yet pulled on their national team jerseys. That means their upcoming clash at the 2026 World Cup will mark the first time they face off while representing their respective countries.

Looking at the all-time series between the two nations, France holds the upper hand with seven wins, while Norway has claimed victory on four occasions, with four additional matches ending in a draw. The most recent chapter came in that May 2014 friendly ahead of the Brazil World Cup, where Les Bleus ran out convincing 4-0 winners over the Scandinavians.