Rest your best or go strong? Norway face questions as Haaland left out

It was billed as a World Cup Golden Boot showdown between Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland. In the end Haaland started on the bench and it quickly turned into the Ousmane Dembele show after the Ballon d'Or winner hit a stunning 25-minute first-half hat-trick as France coasted to a 4-1 win at Boston Stadium. While France went with an array of attacking talent they hope will fire them to World Cup glory in New Jersey on 19 July, Norway decided this final group game was the right time to exclude Manchester City forward Haaland from the starting XI for the first time since 2024. It wasn't just Haaland though as Norway boss Stale Solbakken, with his side already through to the knockout stages, opted to make a whopping 10 changes. "A no-brainer," he said when asked why he decided to make so many changes. "Both my part and from the physio, health and medical department, and from some of the players themselves. "The only consideration was for the Norway fans. They would have wanted to see Erling and Martin [Odegaard] play. "We did a summary after the Senegal game and five or six players [were] very affected after 80 minutes. The entire defensive line and one or two midfielders." As a result of the changes, Dembele filled his boots after Mbappe struck the underside of the crossbar inside the opening minute. "If Erling Haaland needs a rest for the latter stages of the tournament he will take that," former England striker Ian Wright told ITV Sport before the game. With Haaland, who had scored four goals in the previous two group games, sat on the bench, his deputy Jorgen Strand Larsen missed a penalty that would have made it 3-2 after half-time. Haaland had already made his feelings clear about facing France after scoring two in a 3-2 win over Senegal on 23 June. "I couldn't care too much about that game now," he said after Norway qualified for the knockout stages. "They're probably going to win against us. They're probably going to win the whole tournament." So was it a shrewd move by Norway to make so many changes - or the wrong decision? Sorry, this vote cannot be loaded. In order to vote you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Why has Trump stayed away from the World Cup? What each team need to reach World Cup knockouts Has VAR become a lottery at the World Cup? Ten changes - was it all worth it? France top Group I after making it three wins out of three. While their reward for winning the group is a last-32 showdown at the nearby New York New Jersey Stadium on 30 June against the runners-up in Group F or G, Norway now face a 1,100-mile trip for their game. They are based in Greensboro, North Carolina, and will travel to Arlington, Texas to play Ivory Coast on the same day. They would have faced a trip half that distance had they topped the group. Will a rested Norway team fancy their chances of making the last 16? If they beat Ivory Coast they will then head back to New Jersey for a last-16 tie on 5 July. "It is quite complicated," ex-Scotland winger Pat Nevin told broadcaster Radio 5 Live. "The various distances you'll have to go, the massive distances you have to go if you lose this game, uproot your team and all that sort of stuff. "On the other hand, it's probably a good idea to make sure you just get through and that everyone is completely and utterly fit, that is probably at the forefront of their minds just now." Wright said he was "surprised" Norway had made so many changes, particularly as they named the same starting XI for wins over Iraq and Senegal. Nevin continued: "It is a very, very physical style that the Norwegians play. "If they go and try that physical style and lose two players, was it worth it? I suspect they think that's not worth it and that's why they've done this. "Had Norway put out their 'normal side', they've got about six players that are over 6ft 4in, 6ft 5in, they are good players as well, Haaland in there. "That would have been a different question for France. They wouldn't have given as much space." 'There's a bigger picture' Solbakken argued that he took the decision to make so many changes because of the short window between their last game on Tuesday and facing France on Friday. Norway are playing at their first World Cup since 1998 and Republic of Ireland midfielder Roy Keane said he could see the reasoning. "Remember this team [Norway] isn't used to tournament football yet and it's two teams with differe