Resting Haaland and Odegaard a 'no-brainer' for Norway boss Solbakken

Stale Solbakken defended his decision to rest Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard for Norway's 4-1 defeat to France in their final Group I game. 

With top spot on the line, France swept aside Norway at Boston Stadium, with Ousmane Dembele scoring the second-earliest World Cup hat-trick after just 32 minutes. 

Thelo Aasgaard had pulled one back for Norway prior to Dembele completing his treble, while Jorgen Strand Larsen saw his 50th-minute penalty saved by Mike Maignan. 

Desire Doue concluded the scoring in second-half stoppage time, with Les Bleus currently facing Sweden as it stands in the last 32, though that could change in the coming days.

Norway, however, have had their opponents in the next round confirmed. They will take on Group E runners-up Ivory Coast, who are in the knockout stages for the first time.

With a top-two finish already secured, Solbakken elected to make 10 changes to the starting side that beat Senegal 3-2, with Haaland and Odegaard the most notable absentees. 

Norway became just the fourth team to make 10+ starting XI alterations for a World Cup match in the same edition, after Spain in 2006 (11 v Saudi Arabia), Belgium in 2018 (10 v Japan) and Brazil in 2022 (10 v Korea Republic).

Solbakken understood the frustration around his decision to put out a second-string team, but said it was for the benefit of the team in their quest for a deep run in the competition.

"It was ​a no-brainer, both on my part and from the physios and some players ​themselves," Solbakken said. "They ⁠all said that it would be difficult for many of them.

"We are here to progress as far as we can. Now it's about charging up the batteries. 

"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 have a very heavy game against Ivory Coast and physically they are one of the best teams in the World Cup. Our game is a 50-50 game, and we have to be at our best."

Solbakken highlighted that Norway's gifting of possession to France was key to their defeat, with Dembele and Kylian Mbappe causing much of that damage in the first half. 

Since 1966, Dembele and Mbappe are only the third duo to combine for five goals at the World Cup, along with Poland's Andrzej Szarmach and Grzegorz Lato as well as Germany's Miroslav Klose and Michael Ballack.

"It goes very fast ​when we lose the ball a few times," Solbakken added. "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 fast ‌the ⁠other way."