Norwegian Coach's Surprising Decision: Haaland and Ødegaard on the Bench
June 29, 2026 · Global
Norway coach Ståle Solbakken surprised many by leaving stars Erling Haaland and Martin Ødegaard on the bench against France. This decision resulted in a 1-4 defeat, raising question marks about the strategy implemented and the players' reactions.
A surprising decision came from Norway coach Ståle Solbakken, who did not include the names of two superstars, Erling Haaland and Martin Ødegaard, in his line-up ahead of the match against France. Apart from that, Solbakken also rotated ten other positions. This would be understandable if, as in the German national team's last match, there was nothing at stake. However, the situation is exactly the opposite: even though Norway is guaranteed to qualify, they still have a chance to win the group and get easier opponents in the round of 32. On the other hand, the Norwegian "B" team was humiliated by the champion favorites France and lost with a score of 1-4. Did coach Ståle Solbakken regret the decision to make a big rotation after the final whistle? Apparently not. For him, the decision was inevitable and a "no-brainer". He explained that Norway was not in this tournament to have fun and wanted to "last as long as possible". Therefore, the decision was clear to him. His team showed signs of fatigue after the match against Senegal, and the test results showed this. The consequence is to provide rest for the core players. Solbakken was quoted by 'Bild'. Now, Norway's tournament bracket after finishing in second place is clearly difficult. After the first knockout match against Ivory Coast, Brazil can wait in the round of 16. So, if you want to become world champion, you have to beat everyone, right? Are Erling Haaland and his teammates happy with the idea of just being spectators against France? No one knows. However, TV analyst and Bundesliga star, Jonas Hofmann, speculated on 'MagentaTV' that this is most likely not the case: "Haaland must be thinking: I want to be the top scorer here at the World Cup. Then have to sit on the bench... I don't know if he completely agrees with that." Maybe we'll never know. However, what is certain is that we will see as the tournament progresses whether this decision was a smart move from the Norwegian coach or whether he took too much risk.