Norway's national team has become one of the revelations of the qualification for the 2026 World Cup. Having found itself in the same qualifying group as Italy, the Scandinavians were not considered favorites, yet they finished first in a dominating manner. Against the main rivals, Erling Haaland and his teammates achieved crushing victories of 3-0 and 4-1. What ultimately happened to the Italian team in the qualifying is not worth reminding. Norway reached the World Cup for the first time since 1998. Back then, during the group stage, the Norwegians managed to beat Brazil and reach the Round of 16. True, at that stage Flo, Solskjaer and other Norwegian stars were stopped, while the defeated Brazilians went on to reach the final. The current generation of footballers from the Nordic country is undoubtedly the strongest in 30 years. And this time, advancing from the group will be perceived not as success, but as achieving an appropriate intermediate result. Iraq became a World Cup participant for the first time since 1986, when its path in the tournament ended at the group stage. However, the team failed to secure a direct ticket to the 2026 World Cup through the Asian qualifiers. In the end, the Iraqis secured their return to the world stage for the first time in 40 years, defeating Bolivia 2-1 in the FIFA playoff final thanks to goals by Ali Al-Hamadi and Ayman Hussein. Bookmakers identified the European representatives as favorites for the upcoming match, offering odds of 1.18 on their victory. Iraq was one of the last to reach the World Cup, but underestimating this squad would be disastrous. Two weeks before the tournament's opening match, the Iraqis played a friendly against Spain and managed not to lose in it — 1-1. It is much easier for the Asian side to play in a secondary role, as has been proven time and again. That is how they will play against Norway. With Erling Haaland in the squad and a couple of other decent attacking players, Norway is undoubtedly a dangerous opponent. Given that the next opponents of the Europeans will be much stronger, the Norwegians must not only win but also make a difference. The opponents will play in a high-scoring style.