Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.
Dayot Upamecano is relishing the chance to go up against Erling Haaland as France ready themselves to take on Norway.
Both France and Norway have taken six points from their first two games, meaning Friday’s contest in Boston will decide who goes through as Group I winners.
Haaland has been in fantastic form, scoring four goals.
In fact, after netting a brace against both Iraq on MD1 and Senegal on MD2, Haaland could become only the third player in World Cup history to net 2+ goals in each of his first three appearances in the competition after Argentina’s Guillermo Stabile in 1930 and Hungary’s Sandor Kocsis in 1954.
Norway have created 10 big chances, the most of any team in Group I and already one more than they managed in their previous participation (nine in 1998).
But France centre-back Upamecano is up for the battle, and is expecting it to be a physical test.
He told L’Equipe: “With Haaland, you always have to keep one eye on him, watch where he is, and also keep an eye on the player with the ball, even if you’re not outnumbered.
“When he’s behind me, and one of his team-mates makes a run down the wing, I know I’ll have to take two or three looks to know where he’s going, how he’s positioning himself.
“We all know he’s a player who’s very quick off his feet, a bit like Kylian [Mbappe].
“He only needs a split second to change direction. So, you always have to keep an eye on him. If you can’t anticipate his ball control and prevent him from getting the ball, you have to try to force him wide.
“He’s a player who likes physical contact, and so do I. But sometimes, you have to know how to manage the game, force him to one side and close down his goal angle.
“Haaland is more of a battle of movement than a true physical contest. You have to be ready on every step, watching where he is.
“He’s not going to touch the ball 50 times, we all know that. He’ll want two or three touches, but he’ll play those two or three at 100%, so you have to be at 100%.”
Upamecano, however, also pointed out Haaland is not the only threat France’s defence must be wary of.
“Haaland is an incredible player, but don’t forget [Alexander] Sorloth, with whom I played at RB Leipzig,” Upamecano said. “[He is] very strong, very fast, and he hits hard.”
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