Deschamps excited by Mbappe and Haaland clash at the World Cup

Didier Deschamps is looking forward to a showdown between Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland at the 2026 World Cup after France were drawn in the same group as Norway. 

Friday's draw saw France placed in Group I alongside Senegal, with one of Iraq, Bolivia or Suriname joining them following the intercontinental play-offs that take place in March.

But the main talking point of that group is the battle between Mbappe and Haaland, with the pair enjoying fast starts to 2025-26 with Real Madrid and Manchester City. 

Indeed, across Europe's top five leagues in all competitions this season, Mbappe is the joint-top scorer alongside Bayern Munich's Harry Kane (25), with Haaland five adrift.  

During the UEFA section of qualifying, though, Haaland led the way with 16 goals in eight appearances for Norway, who also finished as the top scorers (37 goals in total). 

Mbappe also shone with five goals and three assists across four outings, and Deschamps is relishing their group clash with Norway on June 26. 

"It will be a great duel," Deschamps told reporters. "Both teams have lots of other big names, but, of course, Kylian and Haaland are two players recognised around the world. 

"They will be two of the contenders to be the top scorer."

According to the Opta supercomputer, only Spain (17%) have a better chance of winning the World Cup than France (14%), with England (11.8%) third in its predictions. 

Les Bleus' opening game of the tournament is a tie against Senegal on June 16, which will bring back memories of the 2002 edition that took place in Japan and South Korea. 

France opened their title defence against Senegal, losing 1-0 thanks to Papa Bouba Diop's 30th-minute strike, and ended up being eliminated from the group stage. 

Pape Thiaw's team topped Group B in CAF qualifying, and Deschamps is predicting another tough test not only against Senegal but from the rest of the teams in the group. 

"It's one of the toughest groups, if not the toughest," Deschamps added.

"They're [Senegal] a competitive national team. And I won't say anything different about Norway after their qualifying campaign. They're one of the very best European teams."

If France tops their section, they will play one of the best third-placed teams from the group stage in the round of 32.

But then it is likely that Germany would stand in their way in the last 16, though Deschamps was keen not to get too ahead of himself. 

"Of course, as France we have a status and there is a lot of expectation around us, but we need to show respect and humility from the beginning," Deschamps said. 

"Before thinking about what is at the top of the mountain, we will need to work our way up gradually and the first steps are difficult.

"We certainly have ambition, but with the necessary humility. We need to perform well right from the start before thinking about what comes next."