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The day was supposed to be defined by Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé facing off at the World Cup, and Lamine Yamal facing his biggest test of the tournament yet. It ended with Haaland on the bench, Mbappé and Yamal failing to score and Ousmane Dembélé stealing the show.
Here’s everything you might have missed on Matchday 16 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup:
THE BEST OF THE DAY
Time of day
Ousmane Dembélé was absolutely out of control during France’s 4-1 win over Norway on Friday at Boston Stadium. The 2025 Ballon d’Or winner scored a first-half hat-trick to take his tally for the tournament to four goals, one short of the tournament record. Dembélé had gone 19 major international tournament matches without scoring a goal before France’s last match; he now has four out of the last two.
Objective of the day
Pape Gueye did not start a match for Senegal at the 2026 FIFA World Cup; this may not be the case for much longer, with Senegal successfully qualifying for the round of 16.
In 33 minutes against Iraq, Gueye scored two goals and recorded an assist. He finished the match with the team’s most goals (3) despite coming on in the 56th minute. Great sub.
Help of the day
Nicolas Raskin and Romelu Lukaku both came on as substitutes in the 85th minute. A minute later, the two men scored the fourth Belgian goal of the evening as Lukaku scored. Talk about instant impact.
Save of the day
Any hopes Norway had of a comeback against France were dashed when Les Bleus goalkeeper Mike Maignan denied Jørgen Strand Larsen from the penalty spot. Maignan is the second French goalkeeper to save a penalty in the World Cup – excluding penalties – after Joël Bats against Zico in the 1986 quarter-final against Brazil.
Norway vs France
- France won Group I and will face a team ranked third in Group F or G. Norway finished second and will face the Ivory Coast on June 30 in Arlington.
- France have won all three of their group matches at the same World Cup for only the second time, after 1998. This is the fourth consecutive time that France has topped their group, one more than in their 12 previous group stage appearances.
- Dembélé’s first-half hat-trick was the first at a World Cup since Oleg Salenko in 1994, and the second-oldest hat-trick in World Cup history. He is the third player to score a hat-trick for France at a men’s World Cup, after Just Fontaine (two in 1958) and Mbappé (one in 2022).
(Photo by Daniel Castelo Branco/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
- France are the first team since Poland in 1974 to have two players (Mbappé and Dembélé) score four or more goals in a single group stage at a World Cup (five by Andrzej Szarmach and four by Grzegorz Lato, first group stage).
- Friday’s match was Mbappé’s 15th World Cup start. He is the youngest player (27 years and 188 days) to make 15 starts in World Cup history, and he is just two starts away from tying Raphaël Varane for the most World Cup starts of any French player.
Senegal versus Iraq
- Senegal finished third in the group and will wait to see if they make it into the top eight teams in third place. Senegal is looking to qualify for the round of 16 in a row at the World Cup for the first time ever.
- Iraq became the fourth country to lose their first six World Cup matches. Iraq has been outscored 16-2 in its two World Cup appearances.
- Senegalese Ismaïla Sarr, Pape Gueye and Iliman Ndiaye all scored and provided an assist for Senegal against Iraq. This is the first time a team has had three players accomplish this feat in a World Cup match since Germany’s 7-1 victory over Brazil in 2014 (Toni Kroos, Sami Khedira, Thomas Müller).
(Photo by Ezra Shaw – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
- Sarr became the first Senegalese player to score and assist in a World Cup match, and is now also Senegal’s top scorer at the World Cup with four goals.
- Senegalese Iliman Ndiaye became the first player in World Cup history to come on as a substitute, then score a goal, assist a goal, take five touches in the opponent’s box and complete five dribbles.
Uruguay vs. Spain
- Spain won Group H with seven points (2W-1L-0L) and will play for second place in Group J on July 2 in Los Angeles. Spain have now gone undefeated seven times in the World Cup group stage (1950, 1990, 1994, 2002, 2006 and 2018).
- Uruguay was eliminated to reach the round of 16. Uruguay has gone winless four times in the World Cup group stage (1974, 1986, 2002 and 2026).
- Spain are now undefeated for 33 consecutive games (24W-9L-0L) since March 2024, the second longest unbeaten run in team history, behind a 35-game streak that was broken by the United States in June 2009 in the Confederations Cup semifinals.
- This is the first time in World Cup history that Spain has finished the group stage of a World Cup without conceding a single goal.
- When Lamine Yamal started, Spain remained undefeated with 17V-6D-0D.
Cape Verde vs Saudi Arabia
- Cape Verde became the first World Cup debutant country to advance past the group stage since Slovakia in 2010.
- Cape Verde is the smallest country in terms of population (around 525,000 inhabitants) to ever reach the round of 16 of the World Cup.
- Vozinha is the third goalkeeper to record multiple World Cup clean sheets after turning 40, joining Peter Shilton (3) and Dino Zoff (2).
(Rico Brouwer/Soccrates/Getty Images)
- Saudi Arabia was prevented from moving forward.
- Cape Verde are the first team to exit the group stage of a World Cup with three draws since Chile in 1998.
New Zealand vs Belgium
- Belgium won Group G and will face a third-place team from Group A, I or J in Seattle on July 1.
- New Zealand were eliminated from the tournament with a defeat. This ends the tournament with one point.
- Kevin De Bruyne is the first player in Belgian history to score in three different World Cups (2014, 2018 and 2026). He is also now the oldest Belgian to score in a World Cup at 34 years and 363 days.
- Romelu Lukaku scored his sixth World Cup goal, surpassing Marc Wilmots as the greatest Belgian goal in World Cup history.
- Elijah Just scored his third goal of the tournament. He is New Zealand’s all-time leading scorer in the World Cup.
Egypt vs. Iran
- Egypt finished second in Group G and will face Australia on July 3 in Arlington. This is the first time Egypt has reached the round of 16 of a World Cup, excluding the 1934 World Cup, which did not have a group stage.
- Iran finished third in Group G and will have to wait to see if they make the top eight teams in third place. Iran has never made it out of the group stage in their six previous World Cup appearances.
- Emam Ashour scored his second career goal for Egypt. His first two goals for Egypt came at this World Cup.
- Ramin Rezaeian scored his second World Cup goal of the tournament and the third of his career. With his three goals and one assist in the World Cup, he now has the most goals of any Iranian player in World Cup history, with four.
- Iran remains winless all-time (0W-5D-11L) at the World Cup when it concedes first.
