Norway overtakes eighth place in World Cup rankings after a strong performance against France.

What happened?

Norway beat England in World Cup rankings, and Stale Solbakken's team shows strength. The English newspaper ranks Norway as better than England, which has to settle for eighth place behind Stale Solbakken's men.

Why is this important for Norway?

This shows that Norway's national team coach made the right decision in rotating the team for the match against France, which is considered the best team in the World Cup ahead of Spain and Argentina. Erling Haaland is often anonymous and makes some people think he's not in the game, but he's always ready and scored the winning goal against Ivory Coast.

What's next?

Norway meets Brazil on Sunday, and Arsenal defender Gabriel has had many heated matches against Haaland and Manchester City. Since the last ranking, Norway has moved up five places, and that makes the Norwegian World Cup heroes also ahead of Portugal's star team with Cristiano Ronaldo at the helm. Norway has one win, one draw, and two losses in their last four games, and their last result was a loss to France with 1-4 on June 26, 2026. Norway will face Portugal at home on September 27, 2026.