28 Jun 2026
World Cup 2026: What went wrong for Marcelo Bielsa's Uruguay?
Uruguay was eliminated from the 2026 World Cup after suffering a humiliating defeat against Spain. Let's analyze what went wrong in the path of Bielsa's team.
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28 June 2026
Stephan: France delivered a 'special' performance for Deschamps
Didier Deschamps' assistant Guy Stephan praised the French team for their 4-1 win against Norway, highlighting Ousmane Dembele's hat-trick and the team's convincing performance at the World Cup.
Didier Deschamps' assistant Guy Stephan said the French team delivered a "special performance" during their 4-1 win against Norway in the coach's absence. Deschamps was not present at the Boston Stadium due to the death of his mother earlier in the week, but France and Ousmane Dembele produced an extraordinary performance. Dembele put France ahead in the seventh minute before scoring a brace 13 minutes later, becoming the first French player to score two goals in the first 20 minutes of a World Cup match. Thelo Aasgaard closed the gap quickly for Norway, but Dembele completed his hat-trick within the 32nd minute, the second fastest three-goal in World Cup history. Norway missed a great chance to close the gap further five minutes into the second half, but Jorgen Strand Larsen's penalty was saved by Mike Maignan, while Desire Doue sealed the score late on. France have now scored at least three goals in each of their last four World Cup matches, the longest ever run by a team scoring more than three goals in consecutive matches at the tournament, since Spain last did so between 1998 and 2002. The victory ensured France top spot in Group I, with Sweden as a possible opponent in the round of 16, although Stephan paid tribute to Deschamps in his post-match analysis. "Obviously, all my thoughts go to Didier. I will call him later. We are all happy that he will be back with the team shortly. He will be in training tomorrow afternoon," said Stephan. "All the players did what they had to do. Since they are very close to Didier, the players wanted to do something special on the pitch today." France has scored 3 goals or more in each of its last four World Cup matches, the longest run for a team since 2002. While Stephan said he was pleased with the result, he acknowledged there is room for improvement for his team ahead of Deschamps' return to North America. "There was a lot of joy in the way we played, a lot of intensity and a lot of chances. We scored four goals," added Stephan. "Ousmane scored a hat-trick and Desire Doue scored the first headed goal of his career. All these are positive aspects and we need to build on them. Having said that, there were also moments when we were not at our best and we need to correct them. The further we go in this tournament, the stronger the opposition will be. We need to stay alert. We are happy, let's enjoy this victory, but tomorrow it's back to work with Didier." Dembele has scored in consecutive appearances for France for the first time since June 2021, and it is the first time he has scored more than one goal in a match for the national team. Mbappe, who scored braces against Senegal and Iraq, also contributed. He is now involved in 20 World Cup goals (16 goals, four assists) and is only the third player since 1966 to have over 20 goal involvements, along with Lionel Messi (18 goals, eight assists) and Miroslav Klose (16 goals, four assists). Doue also contributed with a late goal, and the Paris Saint-Germain player dismissed suggestions that his French team-mates were overconfident ahead of the round of 16. "We are very happy. We played a very good game collectively, offensively and defensively we were very solid," said Doue. "Is there a risk of being overconfident? I wouldn't call it overconfidence. I think we know our qualities, we know we have the quality to hurt any team. We have talented players everywhere and we understand each other well on the pitch. Today Ousmane [Dembele] scored a hat-trick, but it could be Kylian [Mbappe] or Michael [Olise]. Frankly, it's magnificent. We have to continue like this."
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