The best team (so far): France

So far in the World Cup we have seen some great teams, some good teams, and some very bad teams. Today we saw a good team, Norway, play against a great team: France.

Granted, Norway did not play their two stars, Erling Haaland and Martin Ødegaard, but the team is good (and those two players bring them a level up), and it was not bound to be easy for France as the sides clashed for the first spot in Group I.

France were extraordinary in the first half hour, and it was enough to close off the match: three goals by the 2025 Balon d'Or winner, Ousmane Dembele in the first half an hour, was enough to give the French a comfortable lead that could have been more had it not been for goalkeeper Egil Selvik and the Glasgow Rangers' striker Thelo Aasgaard's Norwegian goal.

Ousmane Dembele has scored four goals in the tournament. While attention always seems to focus on Kylian Mbappe, there is no doubt to me who carried the French side; besides his goals, Dembele runs, fights and has the vision to push an already extraordinary side forward.

In the second half France pulled back as Norway vainly pressed forward (and the Scandinavians even missed a penalty kick). The French were nevertheless not done, and in the dying seconds the young PSG player Desire Doué scored his first World Cup goal (having already scored two in the 2025 Champions league final), and I am not afraid to say that it will probably not be his last.

France has in my view stepped into the limelight as favourites to win the title. It is hard to see that anyone can defeat them, but of course, anything can happen as we move into the knock-out stages.

But watch out for the Fantastic Frenchmen! 

Norway ends second in the group and will be facing Cote d'Ivoire in what will also be a great match. 

PSG Champions

The Champions League title has eluded Paris St. Germain for a long time, but now that it finally came it certainly came with style. 5-0 is the greatest difference in a European final ever, and it was not too little as the Parisians were far superior to the disappointing Milanese.

Perhaps it was as expected that Inter came out with a defensive attitude, but this was clearly not working as a highly motivated Parisian side tore apart a shaky defense after 12 minutes with the Moroccan Achraf Hakimi scoring the opening goal after 12 minutes against his former club, and the young Desire Doue scoring a second for PSG after 20 minutes. Inter really had no response, and in the second half one would have expected them to move forward but a far more intelligent PSG side again went a ahead 3-0 on a brilliant counter-attack where Doue scored his second at the greatest stage.

After this is was really over. PSG were clearly enjoying the match while Inter clearly just wanted the match to end. Kvisha Kvaratshkelia made it 4-0 and Senny Mayulu made it 5-0.

Despite it all it is worth congratulating Inter's players who took the heavy defeat with dignity, while for PSG it was particularly fantastic to see Luis Enrique lift the trophy. 

It is in place to congratulate PSG fans, although at the same time it is a shame that the celebrations in the French capital turned violent, when all most fans really want to celebrate is the great victory of a great football team.