Iraq vs Norway Preview

Group I’s second fixture of the evening takes place late on Tuesday night at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, as Iraq face Norway while France and Senegal have already played earlier in the day. Both sides know that a result here will be crucial to their Group I prospects, with the tournament’s eventual landscape in this section potentially becoming clearer within hours.

Iraq come into this World Cup opener having produced mixed results across their final preparations. Their most recent outing ended in a concerning 2–0 home defeat to Venezuela — a result that will not have installed confidence in the camp. Prior to that, they earned a creditable 1–1 draw away in Spain, underlining their ability to compete against strong opposition when at their best. Before that, they beat Andorra 1–0 at home, and earlier in this run claimed a 2–1 home win over Bolivia. The sequence began with a 1–0 defeat away in Jordan. Two wins, a draw and two defeats — Iraq arrive at their first World Cup in decades carrying cautious optimism but also significant concerns about their ability to contain opponents of Norway’s calibre.

Norway come into this tournament in solid if unspectacular form, carrying the excitement of seeing Erling Haaland finally make his World Cup debut. Their most recent outing ended in a 1–1 draw away in Morocco — a decent result on the road against a strong African nation. Prior to that, they were in devastating form, thumping Sweden 3–1 at home, and before that earned a goalless draw at home against Switzerland. Earlier in this run, they suffered a 2–1 defeat away in the Netherlands, and the sequence began with a stunning 4–1 away win in Italy. Two wins and two draws alongside that one defeat — Norway are a side with extraordinary individual quality, particularly in Haaland and Ødegaard, and will be expected to handle Iraq with relative comfort.

There is no previous meeting between these two nations on record, making this a fresh encounter without historical context.

Norway’s firepower — led by Haaland on his long-awaited World Cup debut, with Ødegaard pulling the strings in behind — should provide more than enough quality to trouble an Iraqi defensive structure that conceded twice at home to Venezuela just days ago. Iraq will be motivated by the occasion and the historic nature of their World Cup return, but on current evidence Norway carry considerably more quality and should take the three points.

In Norway, the match is live on TV 2 Direkte and TV 2 Play. In Iraq, viewers can watch via beIN SPORTS CONNECT and Al Rabiaa Sport TV. In the UK and Ireland, the game is available on BBC One and via BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website.

Lineups & Injuries

Iraq (4-1-3-2) Basil, Ali, Tahseen, Iqbal, Hashim, Farji, Ammari, Hamadi, Jasim, Doski, Hussein

Iraq: No injury concerns reported.

Norway (4-3-3) Nyland, Wolfe, Heggem, Ajer, Ryerson, Nusa, Berg, Berge, Sørloth, Haaland, Ødegaard

Norway: No injury concerns reported.

Both squads appear to be at full strength for this Group I opener. Norway’s only selection talking point centres on Strand Larsen and Bobb missing out despite the former’s two goals against Sweden, with the starting eleven selected on form and experience ahead of Haaland’s landmark World Cup appearance.

Group I

Pos	Team	MP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	France	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Norway	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Senegal	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Iraq	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Iraq Form

Result	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Competition	Date
❌	Iraq	0 – 2	Venezuela	International Friendly	Jun 10, 2026
🤝	Spain	1 – 1	Iraq	International Friendly	Jun 4, 2026
✅	Iraq	1 – 0	Andorra	International Friendly	May 29, 2026
✅	Iraq	2 – 1	Bolivia	International Friendly	Apr 1, 2026
❌	Jordan	1 – 0	Iraq	International Friendly	Dec 12, 2025

Norway Form

Result	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Competition	Date
🤝	Morocco	1 – 1	Norway	International Friendly	Jun 7, 2026
✅	Norway	3 – 1	Sweden	International Friendly	Jun 1, 2026
🤝	Norway	0 – 0	Switzerland	International Friendly	Mar 31, 2026
❌	Netherlands	2 – 1	Norway	International Friendly	Mar 27, 2026
✅	Italy	1 – 4	Norway	International Friendly	Nov 16, 2025

Head to Head

No previous meetings between these two sides.

TV Listings / Streaming

Country	Channel
Norway	TV 2 Direkte, TV 2 Play
Iraq	beIN SPORTS CONNECT, Al Rabiaa Sport TV, Almanasa
Great Britain	BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport Web
Ireland	RTE 2, BBC One, RTE Player, BBC iPlayer
USA	FOX Network, fuboTV, Telemundo, FOX One
Germany	ORF eins, SRF zwei, MagentaTV
France	M6, beIN Sports 1, M6+, Molotov
Brazil	CazéTV
Canada	TSN+, TSN1, RDS App
Japan	DAZN Japan