FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Erling Haaland is among 10 regular starters absent from Norway’s starting lineup for the team's World Cup match against France on Friday.
Coach Ståle Solbakken appears to be resting Haaland and others with Norway already qualified for the round of 32. Norway would need to beat France to win Group I because the team trails on goal difference.
Haaland is tied with Brazil’s Vinícius Júnior and France’s Kylian Mbappé for the second-most
goals in the tournament with four apiece. That is one behind Argentina’s Lionel Messi in the race for the Golden Boot.
Fredrik Aursnes is the only player who opened Norway's game against Senegal on Monday who is listed among the starting 11. Among the wholesale changes, Egil Selvik is in goal in place of Orjan Nyland.
Mbappé and the rest of France's regular lineup is set to start.
The winner of Group I will play in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Tuesday against a to-be-determined third-place finisher. The second-place team in the group faces the Ivory Coast the same day in Arlington, Texas.
___
See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here
