A World Cup knockout stage matchup has been locked in for Dallas Stadium.
After falling to France on Friday in a clash to decide the winner of Group I, Erling Haaland and Norway will head to Arlington to face Ivory Coast, the Group E runner-up, on June 30 in the Round of 32.
Norway opened the World Cup with victories over Senegal and Iraq, setting up the matchup with France, also unbeaten in its first two matches, to determine which side would win the group.
Norway, however, decided to rest Haaland, the Manchester City star, and other players with both sides already through to the knockout rounds regardless of Friday’s end result.
Thus, the second place finish in Group I sent Norway to Texas, while group winner France will head to New York to face a to-be-determined opponent, also on June 30.
During Friday’s match, France forward Ousmane Dembélé scored a first-half hat trick.
Dembélé’s goals came in the seventh, 20th and 32nd minutes. It was the first first-half hat trick at the World Cup since Russia forward Oleg Salenko scored three of his five goals in the opening 45 minutes against Cameroon at the 1994 World Cup in the United States.