My, that was an action-packed conclusion to France v Senegal, wasn’t it? We can only hope for half the excitement in the other half of Group I between two teams that have not played in the World Cup* this century.

Norway last played in the World Cup* in 1998 and upset Brazil to reach the knockout rounds. They also appeared the last time the Cup was held in the USA in 1994, missing out on the knockout rounds in peculiar fashion – four teams tied with four points and an even goal difference. Norway only scored once; therefore, they were the odd team out. Italy opened that group with a loss to Ireland and scraped into the knockout rounds as one of the third-place teams. Heard they made a bit of a run after that.

Iraq last played in the World Cup* in 1986, before any of the current players were born. (I was a rising senior in high school, but it’s safe to say their appearance isn’t something I recall, as I was mostly fretting about calculus and my lack of dating options.) They’re seeking their first World Cup point, having dropped all three matches in 1986, though only by one goal each. They’ve fared relatively well in Asian Cup play since the unlamented demise of the Hussein family, including the 2007 championship.

(* – technically, at least in ancient parlance, the “World Cup” includes the qualifiers, and the final 32, er, 48 teams are participating in the “World Cup finals.” So it’s not quite correct to say they haven’t played in the World Cup recently. I pledge to be less pedantic the rest of this session.)