GROUP I · THE GAUNTLET

France Senegal Norway And Iraq Add their world rankings together and you get one hundred and three The lowest number of any group at this World Cup This is the toughest group of the entire tournament The only group that contains the world number one And buried inside it a rematch twenty-four years in the making

Here they are by the numbers France FIFA ranked number one The best team on the planet Didier Deschamps in charge in his farewell tournament Squad value around one and a quarter billion euros The second most valuable squad at the World Cup Senegal Ranked fourteenth Pape Thiaw on the touchline Winners of the twenty twenty-one Africa Cup of Nations Norway Ranked thirty-first Ståle Solbakken in charge Back at a World Cup for the first time since nineteen ninety-eight And Iraq Ranked fifty-seventh Graham Arnold the Australian in command Back for the first time since nineteen eighty-six Two giants Two long exiles ending

Let's start at the top France FIFA ranked number one They reclaimed the summit in April twenty twenty-six The first time at number one since twenty eighteen Didier Deschamps in charge since twenty twelve He has already announced this is his last tournament Squad value around one and a quarter billion euros Second only to England World champions in nineteen ninety-eight and twenty eighteen Runners-up in two thousand six and twenty twenty-two They won their qualifying group with sixteen points The strength is everything The depth is absurd The weakness is the ghost The last time France opened a World Cup as defending champions they were beaten in the first match and went home without scoring a goal The team that beat them is in this group

Kylian Mbappé The captain and forward Twenty-seven years old Real Madrid Ninety-six caps fifty-six goals France's second highest scorer of all time Behind only Olivier Giroud He has carried this team since the twenty twenty-two final The fastest player in the group Maybe the fastest at the World Cup Ousmane Dembélé The forward Twenty-nine years old Paris Saint-Germain Fifty-eight caps seven goals The reigning Ballon d'Or winner He won the twenty twenty-five award after leading P S G to the Champions League Two-footed Unplayable on his day The most in-form attacker France have Aurélien Tchouaméni The defensive midfielder Twenty-six years old Real Madrid Forty-four caps The anchor of the French spine since the run to the twenty twenty-two final He breaks play up and starts it again Everything good passes through him William Saliba The centre-back Twenty-five years old Arsenal Thirty-one caps In twenty twenty-three twenty-four he played every single minute of Arsenal's Premier League season Three thousand four hundred and twenty minutes Calm fast and almost impossible to beat in a foot race

Now Senegal Ranked fourteenth The Lions of Teranga Pape Thiaw in charge since December twenty twenty-four A former Senegal forward who actually played at the two thousand two World Cup Squad value around four hundred and sixty-eight million euros Champions of Africa in twenty twenty-one They won their qualifying group unbeaten Seven wins three draws no defeats The strength is pedigree They reached a World Cup quarterfinal in two thousand two The weakness is temperament At the twenty twenty-five Africa Cup of Nations they walked off the pitch in protest over a late penalty The result was overturned The final was lost in a committee room not on the grass

Sadio Mané The forward Thirty-four years old Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia One hundred and twenty-six caps fifty-three goals Senegal's all-time top scorer He scored the winning penalty that won the Africa Cup of Nations in twenty twenty-one Player of the tournament Twice The heartbeat of this team for a decade Nicolas Jackson The striker Twenty-four years old Bayern Munich on loan Thirty-two caps eight goals He won the Bundesliga title in his loan season Pace power and the future of the Senegal attack The man being groomed to inherit Mané's number nine Édouard Mendy The goalkeeper Thirty-four years old Al-Ahli Fifty-seven caps The first African goalkeeper to be named the best in the world by FIFA He won the Champions League with Chelsea in twenty twenty-one Commanding calm and the reason Senegal concede so little Kalidou Koulibaly The captain and centre-back Thirty-four years old Al-Hilal One hundred and three caps As captain he lifted the Africa Cup of Nations The first Senegalese to ever do it The leader at the back and the voice of this dressing room

Now to Scandinavia Norway Ranked thirty-first Ståle Solbakken in charge since twenty twenty Squad value around five hundred and ninety-seven million euros More valuable than Senegal Here is the headline Norway have not been to a World Cup since nineteen ninety-eight Twenty-eight years And this golden generation Haaland and Ødegaard have never played a major tournament in their lives No Euros No World Cup Until now They qualified with a perfect record Eight wins from eight Thirty-seven goals scored The strength is the firepower The weakness is obvious Not one player in this squad has ever felt the pressure of a major tournament

Erling Haaland The striker Twenty-five years old Manchester City Forty-nine caps fifty-five goals Norway's all-time top scorer already at twenty-five He scored sixteen goals in qualifying The most of any player in Europe A goal a game at international level The most feared striker in the world Martin Ødegaard The captain and midfielder Twenty-seven years old Arsenal Sixty-seven caps He lifted the Premier League trophy as Arsenal's captain in May twenty twenty-six The creator The one who turns Haaland's runs into goals Norway's brain Alexander Sørloth The striker Thirty years old Atlético Madrid Seventy caps twenty-six goals He once scored a hat-trick inside four minutes in La Liga The earliest hat-trick in the history of the competition The perfect foil for Haaland Antonio Nusa The winger Twenty-one years old R B Leipzig Twenty-two caps seven goals One of the youngest scorers in Champions League history Direct fearless and the future of this team The wildcard off the bench

And finally Iraq Ranked fifty-seventh The Lions of Mesopotamia Graham Arnold the Australian appointed in May twenty twenty-five He took Australia to the World Cup twice Squad value around twenty-four million euros To put that in perspective France's squad is worth more than fifty times as much Iraq played twenty-one qualifying matches More than any other nation on earth They came through the very last play-off beating Bolivia two-one in Mexico The strength is the spirit In two thousand seven a country torn apart by war won the Asian Cup The weakness is the level This is their first World Cup in forty years

Aymen Hussein The striker Thirty years old Al-Karma Ninety-three caps thirty-three goals He scored the winner against Bolivia that sent Iraq to the World Cup The talisman One of the most capped players in the squad and a top-five scorer in his country's history Ali Al-Hamadi The forward Twenty-four years old Luton Town on loan Seventeen caps five goals The first Iraqi ever to play in the Premier League He scored in the play-off against the United Arab Emirates and again against Bolivia The most European of Iraq's attackers Zidane Iqbal The midfielder Twenty-three years old F C Utrecht Twenty-two caps A Manchester United academy product The first British South Asian to play for United's first team He scored the goal against Indonesia that kept the qualifying dream alive Amir Al-Ammari The midfielder Twenty-eight years old Cracovia in Poland Forty-nine caps Born in Sweden He scored the penalty deep into stoppage time against the United Arab Emirates The ninety plus seventeenth minute The kick that put Iraq one step from the World Cup

Now The contrast Add the four rankings together One fourteen thirty-one fifty-seven One hundred and three Group D came in at one hundred and five Every other group is higher Group I is the toughest at the World Cup The spread is just as brutal From France at number one to Iraq at fifty-seven Fifty-six places And the money France one and a quarter billion euros Iraq twenty-four million A ratio of more than fifty to one The widest wealth gap on a single pitch all summer

Match one The sixteenth of June France versus Senegal MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford New Jersey Around eighty-two thousand five hundred seats The stadium that will host the World Cup final The rematch of two thousand two opens the group Mbappé against Mendy History against history Match two The sixteenth of June Iraq versus Norway Gillette Stadium in Foxborough Massachusetts Around sixty-five thousand seats Home of the New England Patriots Two nations ending long exiles meeting for the very first time Haaland's World Cup debut against forty years of Iraqi waiting Match three The twenty-second of June Norway versus Senegal MetLife Stadium again The match that likely decides second place Africa's champions against Scandinavia's goal machine Pedigree against firepower A first-ever meeting that could settle everything Match four The twenty-second of June France versus Iraq Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia Around sixty-nine thousand seats Home of the Eagles The world number one against the world's last qualifier The biggest gap in the group on one pitch Match five The twenty-sixth of June Norway versus France Gillette Stadium again The final group game for both Haaland against Saliba It could be a shootout for top spot or a dead rubber The sixteenth chapter of an old rivalry Match six The twenty-sixth of June Senegal versus Iraq B M O Field in Toronto Around forty-five thousand seats The only Group I match in Canada Two teams who have never met possibly playing for a place in the next round

Now The verdict And we are not doing this by squad value We are doing it by history France win the group Not because they are the most expensive Because they are the best team in the world and even haunted by two thousand two the depth is overwhelming First place France The real fight is for second Senegal versus Norway The money says Norway Their squad is worth more The bookmakers lean Norway too because of Haaland But the history says Senegal Here is why Senegal have reached a World Cup quarterfinal They are the champions of Africa They have won knockout matches under pressure again and again Norway have a golden generation that has never not once played a major tournament When the nerves come in June experience wins Senegal over Norway Not for the money For the pedigree Second place Senegal And the upset watch Two of them The first is written in stone France versus Senegal opening night The last time it happened the champions fell and never recovered Senegal have a one hundred percent record against France Do not be shocked if it happens twice And the second Iraq Forty years away A squad worth twenty-four million But this is the country that won the Asian Cup in the middle of a war Spirit like that does not read the rankings If Norway freeze Iraq are right there Now you know the group Now we wait for the football

Mark the dates The sixteenth of June France versus Senegal at MetLife Iraq versus Norway in Foxborough The twenty-second of June Norway versus Senegal at MetLife France versus Iraq in Philadelphia The twenty-sixth of June The final matchday Norway versus France in Foxborough Senegal versus Iraq in Toronto