Group I of the 2026 FIFA World Cup took place from June 16 to 26, 2026.[1] The group consisted of France, Senegal, Iraq, and Norway.
France and Norway secured their spots in the round of 32 after two group game wins each, with France topping the group after defeating Norway in their final group game.
Senegal finished third with a decisive victory over Iraq, allowing them to advance as one of the eight best third-place teams. Iraq were eliminated after losing all three of their group stage matches. [2]
Teams
| Draw position | Team | Pot | Confederation | Method of qualification |
Date of qualification |
Finals appearance |
Last appearance |
Previous best performance |
FIFA Rankings[3][4] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 2025[nb 1] | June 2026 | |||||||||
| I1 |  France |
1 | UEFA | UEFA Group D winner | November 13, 2025 | 17th | 2022 | Winner (1998, 2018) | 3 | 3 |
| I2 |  Senegal |
2 | CAF | CAF Group B winner | October 14, 2025 | 4th | 2022 | Quarterfinals (2002) | 19 | 15 |
| I3 |  Iraq |
4[nb 2] | AFC | Inter-confederation playoff Path 2 winner | March 31, 2026 | 2nd | 1986 | Group stage (1986) | 58[nb 2] | 57 |
| I4 |  Norway |
3 | UEFA | UEFA Group I winner | November 16, 2025 | 4th | 1998 | Round of 16 (1998) | 29 | 31 |
Notes
- ^ The rankings of November 2025 were used for seeding for the final draw.[5]
- ^ a b As the identity of the inter-confederation playoff Path 2 winner was not known at the time of the final draw, positions in the FIFA Rankings were not taken into account, and the placeholder in the draw was automatically seeded into pot 4.[5]
Standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | France |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 2 | +8 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Norway |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 7 | +1 | 6 | |
| 3 | Senegal |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 6 | +2 | 3 | |
| 4 | Iraq |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 12 | −11 | 0 |
In the round of 32:[2]
- The winner of Group I, France, advanced to play the third-place team of Group F, Sweden.
- The runner-up of Group I, Norway, advanced to play the runner-up of Group E, Ivory Coast.
- The third-place team of Group I, Senegal, advanced to play the winner of Group G, Belgium, as one of the eight best third-place teams from the group stage.
Matches
All times listed are local, UTC−4 (EDT).[1]
France vs Senegal
The teams had only met once prior, when Senegal defeated defending champions France 1–0 in a major upset at the opening match of the 2002 FIFA World Cup.[6]
In the first half, Nicolas Jackson hit the post with a low shot from the left that came back off French goalkeeper Mike Maignan's leg and out for a corner. Just before half-time Ismaïla Sarr shot over the bar from six yards out after a low cross from Sadio Mané on the left.[7]
In the second half, Mané appeared to catch Kylian Mbappé inside the box but after a VAR review no penalty was given.[8] In the 66th minute, Mbappé made it 1–0 when he finished with a low right foot first time shot to the left corner from the right after a pass from Michael Olise. In the 82nd minute, Substitute Bradley Barcola ran onto a pass from Adrien Rabiot before chipping the ball over Édouard Mendy and into the net from the right to make it 2–0. In the 95th minute, Senegal pulled a goal back when substitute Ibrahim Mbaye scored with a shot from a tight angle on the right which French goalkeeper Mike Maignan got his hands to but couldn't prevent from going high into the net. A minute later, Mbappé got his second goal and France's third with a right foot shot from 30 yards out into the left of the net. In scoring his second goal of the game, Mbappé became the highest scorer in France's history with 58 goals.[9]
| France |
3–1 | Senegal |
|---|---|---|
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[Report 1] |
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France[10]
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Senegal[10]
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees:[10] |
Iraq vs Norway
The two teams had never met before. The fixture marked the return of Iraq and Norway to the World Cup finals, their first appearances since 1986 and 1998 respectively.
In the 29th minute, Norway went in front when Erling Haaland slid in to score at the back post from close range after a low cross from the left by David Møller Wolfe. Iraq got an equaliser in the 39th minute when Aymen Hussein headed into the right of the net from six yards out after a cross from the left by Amir Al-Ammari. Haaland put Norway back in front four minutes later when he chased down a back-pass to Iraq goalkeeper Jalal Hassan with the ball hitting him from the goalkeeper's kick into the net.[12]
In the 76th minute, Norway went 3–1 in front when Leo Østigård scored with a near-post header to the net after a corner from Martin Odegaard on the right. Norway got a fourth goal in the 6th minute of added time when Haaland's looping header across goal was deflected by Aymen Hussein at the back post into his own net for an own goal.[13]
| Iraq |
1–4 | Norway |
|---|---|---|
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[Report 2] |
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Iraq[14]
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Norway[14]
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees:[14] |
France vs Iraq
The two teams had never met before.
At 6:01 p.m., during the half-time break, the match was interrupted due to adverse weather conditions (thunderstorm and lightning alert). The match was resumed at 8:00 p.m, the second half played concurrently with the first half of Norway vs Senegal as a result.[15][16]
With Iraq having fallen to the French team from their 3-0 finish, Iraq were eliminated from the group stage altogether.
| France |
3–0 | Iraq |
|---|---|---|
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[Report 3] |
France[17]
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Iraq[17]
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees:[17] |
Norway vs Senegal
The teams previously faced each other once in 2006, a friendly won 2–1 by Senegal.[18]
Erling Haaland dominated the match throughout by scoring consistent goals throughout, overwhelming the promising Senegalese team altogether, with Marcus Holmgren Pedersen having scored first in the 43rd minute. This win was enough for Norway to secure their spot to the Round of 32.
| Norway |
3–2 | Senegal |
|---|---|---|
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[Report 4] |
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Norway[19]
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Senegal[19]
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees:[19] |
Norway vs France
The teams had previously faced each other 16 times, most recently in 2014, a 4–0 win for France in a friendly match. This marked the first time in World Cup history Norway lost to an opponent that was not Italy (who failed to qualify after finishing behind Norway in their qualification group before losing on penalties to Bosnia and Herzegovina)[20]
France finished with a perfect 3-0, with Norway finishing as the runners-up with a diastrous 1-4 finish, owing to the Norwegian team's poor defending along with lack of consistencies.
| Norway |
1–4 | France |
|---|---|---|
Aasgaard  21' |
[Report 5] | Dembélé 7', 20', 32' Doué 90+4' |
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Norway[21]
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France[21]
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees:[21] |
Senegal vs Iraq
The two teams had never met before.
For Iraq, this was their worst World Cup defeat to date since their 1986 debut. Additionally, it marked the second-largest defeat suffered by an Arab team during the World Cup group stage, following Qatar's 6–0 loss to Canada.
| Senegal |
5–0 | Iraq |
|---|---|---|
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[Report 6] |
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Senegal[23]
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Iraq[23]
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees:[23] |
Discipline
The team conduct ("fair play") score would have been used as a tiebreaker if the head-to-head and overall records of teams were tied. It would also be used as a tiebreaker for the third-place ranking between groups if the overall records of teams were tied. The score was calculated based on yellow and red cards received by players and team officials in all group matches as follows:[2]
- yellow card: −1 point;
- indirect red card (second yellow card): −3 points;
- direct red card: −4 points;
- yellow card and direct red card: −5 points;
Only one of the above deductions could be applied to a player or team official in a single match.
| Team | Match 1 | Match 2 | Match 3 | Score | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| France |
1 | –1 | |||||||||||
| Norway |
1 | –1 | |||||||||||
| Senegal |
2 | –2 | |||||||||||
| Iraq |
1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | −8 | ||||||||
Notes
References
- ^ a b "FIFA World Cup 26 – Match Schedule" (PDF). FIFA. February 4, 2024. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
- ^ a b c "FIFA World Cup 2026 Regulations" (PDF). FIFA. May 2025. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 23, 2025. Retrieved June 7, 2025.
- ^ "FIFA/Coca-Cola Men's World Ranking (19 November 2025)". FIFA. November 19, 2025. Retrieved November 22, 2025.
- ^ "FIFA/Coca-Cola Men's World Ranking (11 June 2026)". FIFA. June 11, 2026. Retrieved June 11, 2026.
- ^ a b "Draw Procedures for the FIFA World Cup 2026" (PDF). FIFA. November 25, 2025. Retrieved November 25, 2025.
- ^ "France national football team: record v Senegal". 11v11.com. Retrieved December 6, 2025.
- ^ "World Cup 2026: France 3–1 Senegal – Kylian Mbappe becomes leading scorer in Les Bleus history with stunning double". Sky Sports. June 16, 2026. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
- ^ "The VAR call that dumbfounded the world's best refs". BBC Sport. June 16, 2026. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
- ^ "France 3 Senegal 1". BBC Sport. June 16, 2026. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
- ^ a b c "Tactical Line-up – Group I – France v. Senegal" (PDF). FIFA. June 16, 2026. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
- ^ a b c d e f "Michelob Ultra Superior Player of the Match – every winner". FIFA. June 16, 2026. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
- ^ "World Cup 2026: Iraq 1-4 Norway - Erling Haaland scores twice on tournament debut as Stale Solbakken's side make winning start". Sky Sports. June 17, 2026. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
- ^ "Iraq 1 Norway 4". BBC Sport. June 17, 2026. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
- ^ a b c "Tactical Line-up – Group I – Iraq v. Norway" (PDF). FIFA. June 16, 2026. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
- ^ "Liveticker | Frankreich – Irak | 2. Spieltag | Weltmeisterschaft 2026" [Live ticker | France – Iraq | Matchday 2 | 2026 World Cup]. kicker (in German). June 22, 2026. Retrieved June 22, 2026.
- ^ "France 3 Iraq 0". BBC Sport. June 22, 2026. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
- ^ a b c "Tactical Line-up – Group I – France v. Iraq" (PDF). FIFA. June 22, 2026. Retrieved June 22, 2026.
- ^ "Norway national football team: record v Senegal". 11v11.com. Retrieved December 6, 2025.
- ^ a b c "Tactical Line-up – Group I – Norway v. Senegal" (PDF). FIFA. June 22, 2026. Retrieved June 22, 2026.
- ^ "France national football team: record v Norway". FIFARanking.net. Retrieved December 6, 2025.
- ^ a b c "Tactical Line-up – Group I – Norway v. France" (PDF). FIFA. June 26, 2026. Retrieved June 26, 2026.
- ^ "Didier Deschamps endeuillé" [Didier Deschamps in mourning] (in French). French Football Federation. June 23, 2026. Retrieved June 26, 2026.
- ^ a b c "Tactical Line-up – Group I – Senegal v. Iraq" (PDF). FIFA. June 26, 2026. Retrieved June 26, 2026.
Reports
- ^
- "France vs Senegal | First Stage | FIFA World Cup 2026". FIFA. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
- "Match Report – Group I – France v. Senegal". FIFA. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
- "Post match summary report – Group I – France v. Senegal". FIFA. June 16, 2026. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
- ^
- "Iraq vs Norway | First Stage | FIFA World Cup 2026". FIFA. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
- "Match Report – Group I – Iraq v. Norway". FIFA. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
- "Post match summary report – Group I – Iraq v. Norway". FIFA. June 16, 2026. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
- ^
- "France vs Iraq | First Stage | FIFA World Cup 2026". FIFA. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
- "Match Report – Group I – France v. Iraq". FIFA. June 23, 2026. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
- "Post match summary report – Group I – France v. Iraq". FIFA. June 23, 2026. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
- ^
- "Norway vs Senegal | First Stage | FIFA World Cup 2026". FIFA. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
- "Match Report – Group I – Norway v. Senegal". FIFA. June 23, 2026. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
- "Post match summary report – Group I – Norway v. Senegal". FIFA. June 23, 2026. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
- ^
- "Norway vs France | First Stage | FIFA World Cup 2026". FIFA. Retrieved June 26, 2026.
- "Match Report – Group I – Norway v. France". FIFA. June 26, 2026. Retrieved June 26, 2026.
- "Post match summary report – Group I – Norway v. France". FIFA. June 26, 2026. Retrieved June 27, 2026.
- ^
- "Senegal vs Iraq | First Stage | FIFA World Cup 2026". FIFA. Retrieved June 26, 2026.
- "Match Report – Group I – Senegal v. Iraq". FIFA. June 26, 2026. Retrieved June 26, 2026.
- "Post match summary report – Group I – Senegal v. Iraq". FIFA. June 26, 2026. Retrieved June 27, 2026.