Olise celebrates top spot with France, whilst Jackson’s Senegal progress in third

Four more FC Bayern players have reached the knockout stages of the 2026 World Cup! In the early hours of Saturday morning, Michael Olise and Dayot Upamecano celebrated their third win in as many matches with the French national team, whilst Bara Sapoko Ndiaye and Nicolas Jackson, playing for Senegal, also qualified for the round of 16 by coming third in their group. In addition, alongside Spain, Belgium and Egypt, Cape Verde also pulled off a sensation by progressing to the knockout stages.

Olise and Co. thrash Norway

The Équipe Tricolore, featuring Olise and Upamecano, left Erling Haaland’s Norway with no chance in their final group match, coming away 4–1 winners. A brace from Ousmane Dembélé (7' / 20') put the French 2–0 up early on in the game on Friday evening. Although Thelo Aasgaard briefly reduced the deficit to 2-1 for the Scandinavians, Dembélé restored the two-goal cushion shortly afterwards, making it 3-1 at half-time. After the break, Norway got off to the better start and had a golden opportunity to pull another one back, but Jørgen Strand Larsen saw his penalty saved by the in-form Mike Maignan. Desiré Doué (90'+4) then wrapped up the win with a fourth in second-half stoppage time. As a result, the team led by coach Guy Stéphan – who had stepped in for Didier Deschamps, who had travelled home due to a family bereavement – finished the group stage in first place with nine points, ahead of Norway (six points).

Senegal, featuring Jackson and Sapoko Ndiaye (who did not feature in the match), can also celebrate qualifying for the round of 32 in Group I. Les Lions de la Téranga finished the group stage on three points thanks to a 5–0 rout of Iraq, which placed them among the eight best third-placed teams. In the round of 32, Les Blues will face Sweden on Tuesday 30 June at 23:00 CEST, whilst the Norwegians will take on the Ivory Coast on the same day at 19:00 CEST. It's not yet clear who Senegal’s opponents will be.

In Group H, Spain came out on top thanks to a narrow 1-0 win over Uruguay in their third group match, finishing on seven points ahead of underdogs Cape Verde (three points), who sensationally also qualified for the round of 32 as group runners-up. In a hard-fought affair, Álex Baena scored the only goal of the day in the 42nd minute following a goalkeeping error by Fernando Muslera. La Furia Roja will find out tonight who they'll face in the knockout stages. Cape Verde made history by remaining unbeaten in their third match on their World Cup debut, thanks to a 0-0 draw against Saudi Arabia, and secured their place in the round of 16 with three draws. There, the islanders will face reigning world champions Argentina at midnight CEST on Saturday 4 July.

In an all-or-nothing match, Belgium thrashed New Zealand, featuring former FC Bayern player Sarpreet Singh, 5-1 to not only secure their place in the last 32 but also top the group. Leandro Trossard scored the opener in the 28th minute and doubled the lead five minutes after the restart, before Kevin De Bruyne put the game beyond doubt in the 67th minute. Elijah Just (84') did pull one back to make it 3-1, but Romelu Lukaku (86') and Alexis Saelemaekers (90'+4) wrapped things up to secure the Red Devils’ biggest World Cup win. Egypt and Iran fought out a 1-1 draw in the other match. After an early lead courtesy of Mahmoud Saber (5'), Mehdi Taremi (11') first missed the chance to equalise from the penalty spot, before Iran’s Ramin Rezaeian did get the equaliser in the 14th minute. This means the Pharaohs are through to the round of 32, whilst Iran still have to wait to find out their fate. Mohammed Salah and his teammates face Australia on Friday 3 July at 20:00 CEST. Belgium’s opponents have yet to be decided.