Himal Press 
Photo: AFP
KATHMANDU: Norway, France and Argentina have advanced to the Round of 32 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup after winning their respective Matchday 12 matches.
Norway defeated Senegal 3-2, while France thumped Iraq 3-0 and Argentina saw off the challenge of Austria with a 2-0 win.
In the Group I fixture in New Jersey on Tuesday morning, captain Martin Odegaard missed a couple of chances before Marcus Pedersen opened the scoring for Norway in the 43rd minute. Pedersen capitalized on a rare error from the dependable Senegal captain Kalidou Koulibaly, who passed the ball straight to him. Pedersen fired a low shot past Edouard Mendy at his near post.
The first half ended 1-0.
Haaland doubled the lead for Norway in the 48th minute when he connected to Odegaard’s beautiful pass, sneaked past the sliding Koulibaly, and slammed a shot into the top corner.
Senegal got one back in the 53rd minute as Ismaila Sarr received a pass from Sadio Mane and slammed a powerful shot that flew into the roof of the net after a slight deflection off Norway goalkeeper Orjan Nyland.
However, Haaland dashed Senegal’s hopes of coming back into the match when he scored his second and Norway’s third in the 58th minute. Senegal failed to clear the ball inside the box before Patrick Berg created a beautiful pass to the left of the box for Haaland, who fired a volley high into the net.
As the match appeared headed for a 3-1 finish in Norway’s favor, Sarr got his second goal in the third minute of second-half injury time when Nicolas Jackson collected the ball after Kristoffer Ajer’s missed clearance and slid it to him. Sarr controlled the ball and unleashed a powerful shot past the Norwegian goalkeeper.
Earlier, Kylian Mbappe scored two goals and Ousmane Dembele got his first World Cup goal as France defeated Iraq 3-0 in the Group I fixture in Philadelphia.
Likewise, in the first match of Matchday 12 on Monday night, Lionel Messi’s brace helped Argentina defeat Austria 2-0 in the Group J fixture in Dallas.
