The day was supposed to be defined by Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé going head-to-head at the World Cup, and Lamine Yamal facing his biggest test of the tournament yet. It ended with Haaland riding the bench, Mbappé and Yamal failing to score and Ousmane Dembélé stealing the show.
Here is everything you might have missed on Day 16 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup:
BEST OF THE DAY
Ousmane Dembélé was absolutely unguardable in France’s 4-1 win vs. Norway on Friday at Boston Stadium. The 2025 Ballon d’Or winner scored a first-half hat-trick and brought his overall tally for the tournament to four goals, one shy of the tournament-high. Dembélé had gone 19 previous major international tournament games without scoring a goal before France’s last game; he now has four in the last two.
Pape Gueye has not started a match for Senegal at the 2026 FIFA World Cup; that might not be the case for much longer, with Senegal successfully advancing to the round of 32.Â
In 33 minutes against Iraq, Gueye scored two goals and recorded an assist. He ended the match with the highest number of goal contributions on the team (3) despite coming on as a substitute in the 56th minute. Super sub.
Nicolas Raskin and Romelu Lukaku both subbed on in the 85th minute. One minute later, the two connected on Belgiums fourth goal of the night as Lukaku drove it home. Talk about instant impact.
Any hope Norway had of mounting a comeback against France was crushed when Les Bleus goalkeeper Mike Maignan denied Jørgen Strand Larsen from the penalty spot. Maignan is the second French goalkeeper to save a penalty in the World Cup â excluding shootouts â after Joel Bats against Zico in the 1986 quarter-final against Brazil.
