Haaland explains why he avoided clash against Mbappe's France

Erling Haaland has defended Norway's controversial decision to rest ten starting players during their 4-1 Group I decider defeat to France at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. 

By heavily rotating the squad at the Boston Stadium, manager Ståle Solbakken effectively conceded the top spot to Les Bleus, who easily dismantled the second-string Norwegian defence thanks to a spectacular 25-minute first-half hat-trick from Ousmane Dembélé and a stoppage-time strike from Désiré Doué, rendering Thelo Aasgaard's 21st-minute goal a mere consolation. 

Consequently, by finishing second in the group, Norway are now forced into a theoretically more difficult knockout path, setting up a Round of 32 clash against Côte d'Ivoire in Dallas on Tuesday, June 30, while group winners France earned a much more favourable matchup against a third-placed side (Sweden) in New Jersey.

Despite the backlash surrounding the decision and the resulting tougher knockout route, Haaland dismissed the criticism, admitting that Norway lacked the quality to match the two-time FIFA World Cup champions even at full strength. 

"I said beforehand that I don't care, and that is still the case," the 25-year-old striker confessed to the press. "France was the better team anyway. Even with our strongest 11, I don't think we could have beaten them." 

Currently sitting on four goals, just one behind Golden Boot leader Lionel Messi (5), the Manchester City forward, will look to enter the knockout round in peak physical shape.