Group I · Matchday 3

FrancevsNorway

2026-06-26·15:00 localPredictions finalised

Snapshot · 2026-07-14Model 1.0.0Final prediction · locked 26 Jun, 17:12 UTCFrance·Norway·Head-to-head →·
Full time · forecast gradedFrance 4 1 NorwayThe locked pre-match forecast has been graded against this result.See the calibration recap →

The forecast

Match-outcome probability

  • France win
    51.2%
  • Draw
    26.1%
  • Norway win
    22.7%

The model rates France as favourites at 62%, with Norway projected at 15% to win.

Rank checkFIFA ranks Norway #29 in the world; the model ranks them #16 in this tournament field, 13 places higher than the FIFA list suggests. All 48 compared →
Likeliest score1–011.9%
First goal0-15'35.4%
Both teams score49.2%
Over 2.5 goals48.8%
Top scorerHaaland11.0%
Expected goals1.7 - 0.9
Loading pitch visualisation...

Why the model says this

Favoring France

  • ·France holds a significant Elo advantage of 169 points over Norway.
  • ·France's FIFA rank of 3 is substantially higher than Norway's rank of 29.
  • ·France's expected goals (xG) of 1.69 are considerably higher than Norway's 1.06 xG.
  • ·France has won 5 of their last 6 matches, drawing the other.

Favoring Norway

  • ·Norway has secured 5 victories in 16 historical matches against France.
  • ·Norway has scored 15 goals in their last 6 matches, averaging 2.5 goals per game.

What the model can't fully price

  • ·Two players across both squads are carrying fitness doubts, with one projected to be a starter. The model's lineup channel currently contributes zero, meaning these potential absences are not factored into the probabilities.

Form check

France

Steady

France enters this match in formidable form, having secured 5 wins and 1 draw in their last 6 outings. During this period, they have scored 17 goals while conceding only 5, demonstrating both offensive prowess and defensive solidity.

5 wins and 1 draw in last 6 matches

Norway

Steady

Norway's recent form shows a mixed bag of results, with 3 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss in their last 6 fixtures. They have maintained a strong attacking output, scoring 15 goals, but have also shown vulnerability with a recent draw and loss.

15 goals scored in last 6 matches

Analysis

How it plays out

Both sides run a balanced system, so this becomes a test of who executes the same ideas better on the day.

What decides it

Erling Haaland carries the marginally higher scoring probability (11.0% vs 7.9%).

Off the pitch

Didier Deschamps (14 years in charge of France) vs Ståle Solbakken (6 years). That tenure gap shows up in squad familiarity and set-piece coordination.

The angle

France are the defending champions. That brings quality but also the weight of being everyone's scalp match.

Goals & scorelines

Likeliest score 1–0 (11.9%) · xG 1.7 - 0.9

Expected goals

France
1.74
Norway
0.89

Mean of the Dixon-Coles joint goal distribution. Same fit that produces the most-likely-scoreline list below.

Most likely scorelines

  • 1–0
    11.9%
  • 1–1
    11.9%
  • 2–0
    10.9%
  • 2–1
    9.7%
  • 0–0
    7.9%

From the Dixon-Coles joint Poisson with the low-score correction. Scorelines are listed in probability order; this is a description of the model's distribution, not a recommendation.

Most likely half-time scorelines

  • 0–0
    27.6%
  • 1–0
    22.7%
  • 0–1
    11.3%
  • 1–1
    11.0%
  • 2–0
    10.1%

Same Dixon-Coles fit as the full-time list above, with rates halved to a 45-minute window and the low-score correction applied to that 1st-half block. The 0-0 row sits higher here than at full-time because fewer minutes have elapsed.

Goal totals

  • More than 0.5 goals
    92.1%
  • More than 1.5 goals
    74.4%
  • More than 2.5 goals
    48.8%
  • More than 3.5 goals
    27.0%
  • More than 4.5 goals
    12.6%
  • More than 5.5 goals
    5.1%
  • Both teams score
    49.2%

Each row is the probability the match finishes with more than the listed number of goals. Both-teams-to-score is the probability each side scores at least once. All values are marginals of the Dixon-Coles joint goal grid that produces the scoreline list above — not market lines or any other operator construct.

Event-typed probabilities

  • France clean sheetOpposing team scores zero41.0%
  • Norway clean sheetOpposing team scores zero17.6%

Derived from the same Dixon-Coles joint distribution as the scoreline list. These are descriptive event probabilities — see CLAUDE.md §3/§4 (formerly COMPLIANCE.md §4.2.7) for the framing the project uses.

Win-margin probability

  • France by 4+
    5.4%
  • France by 3+
    14.5%
  • France by 2+
    32.2%
  • France by 1+
    56.6%
  • Draw
    24.9%
  • Norway by 1+
    18.4%
  • Norway by 2+
    6.2%
  • Norway by 3+
    1.5%
  • Norway by 4+
    0.3%

Each row is the probability the match ends with the listed margin or larger in that direction. Marginal of the Dixon-Coles joint goal grid; the “by 1+” rows plus the draw row sum to 1.

How the match unfolds

Over 2.5 goals 48.8% · BTTS 49.2%

Game state through the match

0%25%50%75%100%0'15'30'45'60'75'90'
  • France ahead57.3%
  • Level23.6%
  • Norway ahead19.1%

Probability of each game state at minutes 0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90 — derived from two independent thinned-Poisson processes with the Dixon-Coles per-team rates. The three lines always sum to 1 at each minute. The right column shows the state at the match's closing minute.

When the first goal arrives

  • 0–15
    35.4%
  • 15–30
    22.9%
  • 30–45
    14.8%
  • 45–60
    9.5%
  • 60–75
    6.2%
  • 75–90
    4.0%
  • No goal
    7.2%

Probability the match's first goal arrives in each 15-minute window. Homogeneous Poisson with combined rate λ = λh + λa from the Dixon-Coles fit; the seven rows (six windows + no-goal tail) sum to 1.

Half-time / full-time grid

Joint probability of half-time and full-time results
HT ↓ / FT →HFrance winDDrawANorway win
HFrance ahead37.7%4.3%1.0%
DLevel17.3%15.2%7.1%
ANorway ahead2.3%4.3%10.8%

Each cell is P(half-time result, full-time result). All nine cells sum to 1. Derived from a halved-λ Dixon-Coles fit for the first half plus an independent-Poisson second-half convolution.

Comeback probability

  • France trail at HT, avoid defeat at FT
    6.5%
  • Norway trail at HT, avoid defeat at FT
    5.4%

Joint probability — P(side trailing at half-time AND avoiding defeat at full-time). NOT conditional on trailing at HT. Derived from the same half-time / full-time decomposition that produces the HT/FT grid above; a tied first half is neither a home nor an away comeback opportunity.

Cards

  • Expected yellow cardsMean of the Poisson on total yellow cards.3.45
  • Total yellows over 2.567.0%
  • Total yellows over 3.545.3%
  • Total yellows over 4.526.5%
  • Any red cardP(at least one red card in the match).9.5%

Referee not yet assigned. Using the 2026 pool-mean per-match rate as a placeholder; the model picks up the referee's personal rate once the assignment is published. Total yellow cards modelled as a Poisson with mean equal to two team baselines plus the referee's deviation from the pool mean. Reds are modelled the same way, independently. See /docs/methodology/.

Teams & players

Top scorer: Haaland (11.0%)

Match detail

France

Model-rated key players: Marcus Thuram (FW) — P(scores) 7.9%; Kylian Mbappé (FW) — P(scores) 3.1%; Bradley Barcola (FW) — P(scores) 2.5%.

How they play

France under Didier Deschamps play a balanced game with 51% possession. Their likely shape is a 4-2-3-1, though they have also used 4-3-3. They sit deeper and pick their moments to press (PPDA 26.1) and build patiently through midfield with 7.5 passes per attacking sequence.

What they must execute

France will need to leverage their strengths while managing the physical demands of a tournament spread across three host countries. Managing the fitness of Kylian Mbappé could prove decisive — their availability transforms the team's ceiling.

Storylines
Out injured: Kylian MbappéTorn muscle fiber, no expected return. Composite 0.99 — would have been a likely starter.
Touchline: Didier DeschampsDefending champion — Winner 2022.
Club xG: Squad averages 1.90 xG per match across club football last season — #2 of 20 in the field for attacking pedigree from each player's domestic side (21 of 24 players matched to a known club).

Norway

Model-rated key players: Erling Haaland (FW) — P(scores) 11.0%; Alexander Sørloth (FW) — P(scores) 3.8%; Erling Braut Haaland (FW) — P(scores) 2.1%.

How they play

Limited recent tournament data is available for Norway's tactical profile. Early indicators suggest a balanced approach.

What they must execute

Norway will need to leverage their strengths while managing the physical demands of a tournament spread across three host countries.

Storylines
Form trend: Gained 88 international Elo points over the last 12 months — current rating 1964.
Scoring form: Averaged 3.36 xG per match across 8 recent internationals — #1 of 35 in the field for attacking output.
Top scorer: Alexander SørlothModel's top anytime-scorer for the team — 35% probability of scoring at least once, rank #1 of all players.
Workload going in

France's predicted XI averages 2,336 club minutes over the 2024-25 season (moderate load).

France coverage: 92.0% (11/11 XI matched against the FBref Big-5) · Norway: 46.0% (7/11).

Set-piece outlook

France historically converts 16.4% of xG from set-pieces, contributing 0.28 expected set-piece goals in this fixture. Norway converts 13.6% from set-pieces (0.12 expected). Combined, the model expects 0.41 set-piece goals across the 90 minutes.

  • P(France scores set-piece goal) 24.8%
  • P(Norway scores set-piece goal) 11.4%
  • P(set-piece goal in match) 33.4%

France: Florian Thauvin on corners (70 corners) (per fbref 2020 21) · Norway: Martin Ødegaard on free kicks (per fbref 2022 23)

Penalty outlook

If a penalty is awarded to France, the model gives 73.3% conversion, 72.0% for Norway.

France primary PK: Marcus Thuram (4/5 in 2018-19, per fbref 2020 21) · Norway primary PK: Erling Haaland (2/2 in 2022-23, per fbref 2022 23).

Derived from the model's per-fixture forecast joint and supporting reference data (predicted squads, set-piece xG share, PK posteriors, club minutes). See /docs/methodology/ for the full methodology.

Tactical forecast

Francebalanced
PPDA
26.1
Possession
51%
Directness (yds/pass)
5.2
Long balls/90
28
Set-piece xG
16%
Norwaybalanced

Partial coverage from FotMob match stats (recent qualifiers and friendlies): possession and shot volume only. Press and build-up metrics are not available for this side.

PPDA
Possession
56%
Directness (yds/pass)
Long balls/90
Set-piece xG
14%

Style profile per side from StatsBomb open-data aggregation across recent international tournaments (Euro 2020/2024, Copa America 2024, AFCON 2023, World Cup 2018/2022). The tactical-fingerprint badge maps each team’s observed style vector into one of eight canonical archetypes via a rule-based classifier; teams with fewer than three matches of qualifying coverage carry an “insufficient-data” label rather than being forced into a default. Sides outside the StatsBomb-open corpus use FotMob team match stats from recent qualifiers and friendlies instead (possession and shot volume only), marked as partial coverage. PPDA = passes the side allows per defensive action (lower = more intense press). Formation distributions are not yet produced — that head of the §2.7 classifier is pending its own data pull. See /docs/methodology/.

Squad depth

Most irreplaceable starters

France

  1. N'Golo KantéDefensive midfieldNo natural backup0.43gap
  2. Aurélien TchouaméniDefensive midfieldNo natural backup0.26gap
  3. Kylian MbappéStrikerCover: Jean-Philippe Mateta · 0.770.21gap

Norway

  1. Erling HaalandStrikerNo natural backup0.75gap
  2. Alexander SørlothStrikerNo natural backup0.62gap
  3. Martin ØdegaardAttacking midfieldCover: Thelo Aasgaard · 0.310.51gap

Gap = how far a side's rating at the position falls from the starter to his likely in-squad replacement (named under each name). Larger = harder to replace. Descriptive metric, does not feed the published probabilities. Methodology →

Match conditions

  • AltitudeNear sea level67 m
  • Avg temperatureFive-year mean over the tournament window21.8 °C
  • Avg humidity76%
  • Heat stressShade WBGT ~24.1 °CLow heat stress
  • Pitch surfacetemporary natural grass over artificial turf

Artificial-turf NFL stadium laying a temporary natural-grass pitch for the tournament.

Heat stress is a shade Wet-Bulb Globe Temperature proxy from the venue's climatology mean temperature and humidity; FIFA mandates cooling breaks at WBGT 32 °C. Afternoon kickoff (local time). These are long-window averages, not a match-day forecast, and they are not inputs to the forecast.

Top scorers · P(scores in this match)

Norway

Per-player scoring rate from Model #5 (`p_score_per_match`). Reflects each player's npxG/90, expected minutes, team xG share, and the average opposing-team defence. See /docs/methodology/.

Recent match form

Last match player ratings

France

vs Sweden · avg 7.6

10
Kylian MbappéST
ATK
DEF
PAS
9
Michael OliseRW
ATK
DEF
PAS
7
Adrien RabiotCM
ATK
DEF
PAS
6
Jules KoundeCB
ATK
DEF
PAS
6
Ousmane DembéléRW
ATK
DEF
PAS

Norway

vs Ivory Coast · avg 7.4

8
Erling HaalandST
ATK
DEF
PAS
8
Norway GoalkeeperGK
ATK
DEF
PAS
7
Torbjørn Heggem
ATK
DEF
PAS
7
Martin ØdegaardAM
ATK
DEF
PAS
7
Oscar Bobb
ATK
DEF
PAS

Player scores from official highlight analysis of each team's most recent match. Observational, not a model input. Methodology →

Video analysis: player performance

Per-player ratings and event breakdowns from official highlights analysis. Tap a player to see their full match timeline.

France
9
Kylian Mbappé4'–85'

Scored two goals and was a relentless attacking force, despite having other attempts denied by the woodwork or offside.

2goals4shots

Match timeline

4'Kylian Mbappé scores after receiving a through ball, but the goal is disallowed for offside.
5'Mbappé shot hits the crossbar
19'Swedish goalkeeper saves a shot from Adrien Rabiot after Kylian Mbappé's initial attempt was blocked.
26'Jules Kounde's shot hits the post, followed by Kylian Mbappé's attempt also hitting the post.
40'Mbappé's shot goes over the bar
49'Kylian Mbappé scores with a left-footed shot from inside the box. France 1-0 Sweden.
55'Kylian Mbappé celebrates his goal with the coach.
70'Kylian Mbappé scores his second goal of the match after a one-two with Michael Olise. France 3-0 Sweden.
75'Kylian Mbappé celebrates his goal with a jump.
85'Kylian Mbappé is substituted off the pitch.
9
Michael Olise33'–80'

Provided an assist and was a constant creative threat with his dribbling and passing, directly contributing to two goals and creating numerous chances.

4shots4on target

Match timeline

33'Swedish goalkeeper saves Michael Olise's bicycle kick, then saves Ousmane Dembélé's follow-up shot.
41'Swedish goalkeeper saves Michael Olise's shot after a skillful dribble.
59'Bradley Barcola scores with a powerful shot after a pass from Michael Olise. France 2-0 Sweden.
64'Swedish goalkeeper saves Michael Olise's shot from outside the box.
70'Kylian Mbappé scores his second goal of the match after a one-two with Michael Olise. France 3-0 Sweden.
80'Swedish goalkeeper saves Michael Olise's shot after he dribbled past several defenders.
8
Mike Maignan15'–42'

Made a vital penalty save and another key stop, maintaining France's advantage and preventing Norway from gaining momentum.

3saves

Match timeline

15'Strøm Larsen's shot saved by France goalkeeper
36'Maignan saves Norway's penalty
42'Oscar Bobb's shot saved by Maignan
7
Désiré Doué45'–45'

Scored France's fourth goal, contributing to the team's dominant attacking display.

1goals

Match timeline

45'Doué scores for France
6
Jules Koundé26'–26'

Contributed to an attack with a shot that hit the post, showing offensive intent from his position.

1shots

Match timeline

26'Jules Kounde's shot hits the post, followed by Kylian Mbappé's attempt also hitting the post.
Norway
8
Erling Haaland129'–129'

Scored Norway's winning goal with a composed finish, securing the victory for his team.

1goals

Match timeline

129'Norway re-establishes their advantage. A precise pass finds Haaland in the box, who calmly finishes past the onrushing goalkeeper.
7
Thelo Aasgaard25'–25'

Scored Norway's only goal, providing a brief moment of hope and demonstrating clinical finishing.

1goals

Match timeline

25'Aasgaard scores for Norway
7
Oscar Bobb35'–42'

Earned a penalty for Norway and had a shot on target, demonstrating his attacking intent and ability to create danger.

1shots1on target1fouls won

Match timeline

35'Penalty awarded to Norway after Oscar Bobb is brought down
42'Oscar Bobb's shot saved by Maignan
7
Torbjørn Heggem36'–36'

Made a crucial goal-line clearance, preventing a second goal and demonstrating strong defensive awareness.

1blocks

Match timeline

36'Heggem made a crucial goal-line clearance from an Ivory Coast header.
7
Patrick Berg

Provided a well-weighted assist for Haaland's winning goal, directly contributing to the decisive moment of the match.

6
Jørgen Strand Larsen15'–15'

Had a shot saved by the French goalkeeper, indicating an attempt to challenge the opposition.

1shots1on target

Match timeline

15'Strøm Larsen's shot saved by France goalkeeper
6
Antonio Nusa

Mentioned as scoring Norway's opening goal in observations, but this is contradicted by match events. No other specific actions highlighted.

1goals

Match timeline

5
Egil Selvik44'–44'

Made several crucial saves to prevent France from scoring more, despite ultimately conceding multiple goals.

1saves

Match timeline

44'Barcola's shot saved by Selvik
4
Kristian Thorstvedt36'–36'

Missed a crucial penalty opportunity that could have brought Norway closer and changed the game's dynamic.

1shots1on target

Match timeline

36'Kristian Thorstvedt missed a penalty opportunity (saved by Maignan).

Match observations

  • France displayed a highly effective attacking performance, particularly in the first half, with Ousmane Dembélé leading the charge.
  • Norway struggled to contain France's offensive movements but showed resilience by creating their own chances and scoring once.
  • The match was characterized by a high number of goal-scoring opportunities for both sides, with France converting theirs more efficiently.

Under the hood

Model-by-model comparison

France vs Norway

Moderate (8.1%)
ModelWeightHomeDrawAway
EloRating-based strength estimate32%
62.8%
22.0%
15.2%
Dixon-ColesGoal-process model with low-score correction63%
56.8%
24.7%
18.4%
Hierarchical PoissonBayesian model with confederation pooling6%
54.8%
24.4%
20.9%
Bayesian stackingLearned-weight combination
65.9%
23.5%
10.7%
Ensemble (published)Uniform average + isotonic calibration
61.7%
23.3%
15.1%
Home spread: 8.1%
Draw spread: 2.7%
Away spread: 5.7%
How each model works
Elo
Each team carries a single strength rating updated after every match by a margin-aware K-factor. Match probabilities come from the logistic function of the rating gap. Elo is fast-adapting but coarse — it sees only who won and by how much, not how the goals were scored.
Dixon-Coles
A Poisson regression on team-level attack and defence parameters, fitted via maximum likelihood with an exponential time-decay weighting. The Dixon-Coles correction adjusts the four low-score cells (0-0, 1-0, 0-1, 1-1) where independent Poisson underestimates dependence. Produces full scoreline distributions, not just H/D/A.
Hierarchical Poisson
A Bayesian Poisson model fitted via MCMC (PyMC) with hierarchical priors that pool attack and defence parameters within confederations. Shrinks small-sample teams toward their confederation mean — helpful for nations with few recent competitive fixtures. Slower to fit but better-calibrated on the tails.
Bayesian stacking
Optimises simplex weights (w_elo, w_dc, w_hp) to maximise the leave-one-out log-score across a walk-forward backtest (Yao et al. 2018). The result is a weighted average of the three component models' probabilities, then isotonic-calibrated. Adds no extra features — just learns which component to trust more from historical accuracy.
Ensemble (published)
Equal-weight average of all three component models, followed by per-class isotonic regression calibration fitted on 24 months of walk-forward out-of-fold predictions. This is the probability published on the site. The uniform mean is deliberately simple — it avoids overfitting to the stacking weights' training window.

Three independent component models feed two combination strategies. The uniform ensemble is the published probability; Bayesian stacking uses learned weights. Amber bars flag >5pp divergence from the published number. Full methodology

Probability decomposition (transparency surface)

  • Baseline ensemble — P(France win)57.7%
  • + Lineup contribution0.0pp
  • + Style-matchup contribution+0.1pp
  • Published P(France win)57.8%
France
57.8%
Draw
23.9%
Norway
18.4%

Decomposition of the published P(France win) into the calibrated- baseline plus contributions from the §2.3 expected-XI lineup delta and the §2.7 style-matchup interaction. The §2.7 roadmap is explicit that style effects are second-order to team strength — single-digit-percentage P(win) shifts on extreme style matchups, near-zero on balanced ones. We surface the decomposition for transparency even when the contributions are small; the baseline carries the prediction. Methodology: /docs/methodology.

Head-to-head history

DateCompetitionVenueScoreResultxG
27 May 2014FriendlyHSaint-Denis40W
11 Aug 2010FriendlyAOslo12L
25 Feb 1998FriendlyHMarseille33D
22 Jul 1995FriendlyAOslo00D
5 Sep 1989FIFA World Cup qualificationAOslo11D
28 Sep 1988FIFA World Cup qualificationHParis10W

France vs Norway, every senior international meeting in the martj42 results dataset (score from France's perspective; H/A/N = home/away/neutral). See all 16 meetings →

Latest news & match context

Match conditions
Stage:
Group I · Matchday 3
Date:
26 Jun
Availability

France

France come in at close to full strength.

Norway

Norway come in at close to full strength.

What it means

France and Norway both come in at close to full strength, so the forecast rests on baseline team strength rather than late team-news swings.

The model's style-matchup analysis nudges the forecast −0.1pp toward a draw, versus the baseline team-strength prior.

Availability from the predicted squads and injury feed; forecast adjustments from the model's own decomposition. See /docs/methodology/.

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