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It certainly sounds a bit strange, but if Norway plays a draw against Iceland on Sunday night, instead of winning, it may give Norway a better chance of reaching the World Cup quarter-finals in Cairo.
– Actually it can be so, yes. But you probably have to be very conspiratorial to believe that it will be, says TV 2 handball expert Bent Svele.
The bottom line is: if Norway takes just one point, they will no longer settle for the quarter-finals between them. It could potentially happen if Portugal beats France. So, Norway, France and Portugal would finish with 8 points in the group.
Since Norway has three negative goals in these mutual agreements, it is very difficult to proceed in that way.
In fact, Portugal can beat France by one or two goals and the latter will remain group winners. This has led some to fear that the end of the agreement between Portugal and France could be “extinguished” towards the end of the match.
But if Noge only wins one point against Iceland, mutual agreement will not decide. In practice, this means that France must add points to Portugal to win the group.
Has this been in the thoughts of Christian Berge?
It sounds amazing, but correct.
The only thing NOR “sacrifices” when playing a draw against ISL is the chance to move on if POR wins by 7+.Is it a better investment not to give FRA a chance to win the group even with a two-goal loss? https://t.co/oJ1Es2U1qd
– Ole Erevik (@OleErevik) January 23, 2021
– I think that France wants to win the group since it probably means that they avoid meeting Spain, but I think there will be so much math and calculations that I don’t see it very likely. Planning to play a draw with 30 seconds remaining? No, I don’t think Christian Berge even thinks about this. Norway will probably do their best to win the game against Iceland, says Bent Svele.
What Norway is saying by playing a draw is the chance to move on if Portugal win by seven goals or more against France. In that case, France will have the worst internal goal difference.
– But is Portugal winning by one or two goals quite likely? Are they more likely to win by seven or eight goals?
IMPORTANT: Sunday’s game against Iceland will be important for Norway. Photo: Ihf
– If it can be. It’s possible. I don’t think they win by eight goals, but I’m not sure they win at all, says Bent Svele.
If Norway only plays a draw, France will be ahead regardless of the result against Portugal. It can mean something for motivation.
– Then France will be anyway and will not have the knife to the throat at all. No, I see that it may be one thing, but I have no faith that you are trying to achieve something like that, says Bent Svele.
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