Norway’s manager explains ‘only argument’ against resting Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard for France clash

Norway suffered a 4-1 defeat to France in their final group game of the World Cup; however, they had already secured progression to the next round of the competition before a ball was kicked against Les Bleus.

Ståle Solbakken made 10 changes to his team that secured a 3-2 victory over Senegal for this clash with France, with Erling Haaland, Martin Ødegaard, and Ørjan Nyland among the key players starting from the bench.

The loss to France means they progress in second place from the group, meaning it is likely they will face the Ivory Coast in the next round of the competition, avoiding their Scandinavian rivals Sweden.

Following the heavy defeat, Solbakken explained his decision to rest 10 players, arguing that there was only one reason against him making such a choice.

He said: “Now it's about charging up the batteries—remember that the break we had from the last game is the shortest the team ‌has had in the tournament, and now a new game ​is coming up in four days.

Erling Haaland

“The only ‌argument for not doing what we did (resting 10 players) is that the fans around Norway and here could have seen Erling (Haaland) and Martin (Odegaard), but then it wouldn't be a long World Cup, and that's what we're here ⁠for—we're here to ⁠go as far as ‌possible.”

France striker ‌Ousmane Dembele scored a first-half hat-trick against the ‌Norwegians, with Thelo Aasgaard getting Norway’s only goal, to make it 2-1 when his effort hit the net.

Solbakken’s side could have made France sweat in the second half, as Jørgen Strand Larsen missed a penalty in the 50th minute before Désiré Doué would make it 4-1 in second-half stoppage time with a smart header.

Norway’s manager appeared to be pleased with the performance of his side but pointed out a few areas for them to improve upon ahead of their next fixture of the World Cup.

He said: “Offensively, we created ‌chances throughout the whole game, so the ⁠boys should have credit for ‌that. It was not only in the second half that we ​created chances; we created big chances.

“We had four big chances ⁠in the first ​half, so I think we deserve credit for it, but you can't lose the ball in certain areas here, because it goes so fast the other way.”