World Cup what to know: France, Norway, Mexico among teams in action as knockout rounds continue

Formidable France is back on the field for the World Cup round of 32, welcoming its coach back to the sideline after a one-game absence. So is Norway, which rowed into North Texas for its first knockout match in 28 years.

Meanwhile, host Mexico hopes a raucous home crowd and playing at altitude can help it prevail in Mexico City.

Elimination games continue on Tuesday with three matchups: France-Sweden, Ivory Coast-Norway and Mexico-Ecuador.

Coach Didier Deschamps is back with France after traveling to Europe for his mother’s funeral. Assistant Guy Stéphan led Les Bleus to a 4-1 win over Norway in Deschamps’ absence.

Star striker Erling Haaland scored four goals in Norway's first two group-stage games before sitting out the loss to France. He will try to lead his country to a win over Ivory Coast.

Mexico will have the home crowd behind it at Estadio Azteca after winning all three of its games in Group A. Ecuador qualified for the knockout rounds in dramatic fashion, beating soccer heavyweight Germany 2-1 in its group finale.

— Ivory Coast vs. Norway, 1 p.m. EDT in Arlington, Texas (Fox/Telemundo/Peacock)

— France vs. Sweden, 5 p.m. EDT in East Rutherford, New Jersey (Fox/Telemundo/Peacock)

— Mexico vs. Ecuador, 9 p.m. EDT in Mexico City (Fox/Telemundo/Peacock)

A rested Norway was greeted by about a dozen local law enforcement officials making a rowing motion on the tarmac when the team landed in Dallas ahead of its round of 32 game against Ivory Coast.

Norway coach Ståle Solbakken said he was on the wrong side of the plane and didn’t see it, but called it a “surreal” moment for the squad.

Haaland was among 10 regulars not in Norway’s starting lineup for its group-stage finale. While some fans were disappointed, the loss to France was only four days after a 3-2 win over Senegal, and Norway had already secured a spot in the knockout stage for the first time since 1998.

“We have to do what’s best for the team. And the manager was clear and we agreed with him, that we had a really tough game before and we have a really hard game tomorrow, and we had the chance to rotate a little bit,” team captain Martin Odegaard said Monday before a training session. “We have to think about ourselves, how we can go as far as we can in this competition.”

“Some rest, I think that was the sensible thing to do. So I’m very, very happy we did that,” midfielder Sander Berge said.

Ivory Coast, in its fourth World Cup, will play its first knockout game. Les Éléphants finished second in their group, like Norway did.

Deschamps learned of his mother’s death the day after France’s win over Iraq on June 22, which clinched advancement from the group stage.

“I’m here. I’m good, and it’s good to be busy since Friday evening when I arrived back in the United States,” Deschamps said Monday through an interpreter.

France swept its group matches for the first time since 1998, joined by Argentina and Mexico as the only nations to win all three games. Seeking their third title after 1998 and 2018, Les Bleus would face Germany or Paraguay in the round of 16 if they get past the Swedes.

Deschamps coached France to the 2018 title and to the 2022 final, which Argentina won on penalty kicks.

Captain of France’s 1998 champions, Deschamps took over as coach in 2012 and said in January he would retire this summer. He is trying to become the second coach to win two World Cup titles after Italy’s Vittorio Pozzo in 1934 and 1938.

France striker Marcus Thuram won’t be available against Sweden because of a calf injury and midfielder N’Golo Kanté is uncertain.

Sweden defender Isak Hien will miss the match with a hamstring injury that forced him from last Thursday’s game against Japan in the 37th minute.

Sweden's results were all over the place during group play and it finished third in Group F. Sweden beat Tunisia 5-1 in the opener before losing to the Netherlands 5-1 and then fighting to a 1-1 draw with Japan.

France is meeting Sweden at the World Cup for the first time.

Mexico’s best World Cup performances came when hosting the tournament in 1970 and 1986, reaching the quarterfinals on both occasions.

The current squad — which opened the tournament with three consecutive wins for the first time in its history — will play Ecuador, aiming to win its first knockout-stage match since June 1986, when it defeated Bulgaria in the round of 16.

“I don’t know if we’re favorites but playing at home and with our fans behind us, we want to do things right,” left back Jesús Gallardo said before Monday’s training session.

In addition to the fans, the Mexicans benefit from the altitude — 7,350 feet (2,240 meters) above sea level — a factor that has helped the team lose only two matches in its history at Estadio Azteca.

“We have a 90-minute match ahead of us, plus extra time and possibly penalties, so we shouldn’t focus on the altitude but rather on playing football the way we have so far,” Gallardo added.

Ecuador reached this round by finishing third in Group E, behind Germany and Ivory Coast.

— South Korea coach quits after early World Cup exit prompts fierce criticism from president

— Inside the World Cup knockout stage bracket: Some teams have an easier path than others

— Czech Republic coach Koubek resigns after early World Cup exit

— Belgium center back Zeno Debast practices at World Cup for 1st time while recovering from leg injury

— World Cup in photos, Day 19

— Gabriel Martinelli's stoppage-time winner for Brazil against Japan on Monday in the 95th minute was the country's latest goal in normal time to win a World Cup game.

This story has been corrected. A previous version misattributed a quote from Norway's Sander Berge. The statement was attributed in error to his teammate, Patrick Berg.

AP Sports Writers Ronald Blum, Carlos Rodriguez and Stephen Hawkins contributed to this report.

See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

Ivory Coast players celebrate at the end of the World Cup Group E soccer match between Curacao and Ivory Coast in Philadelphia, Thursday, June 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Japan's Junya Ito (14) and Sweden's Ken Sema (13) battle for the ball during the World Cup Group F soccer match between Japan and Sweden in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Thursday, June 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Sam Hodde)

Morocco fans gather ahead of the World Cup round of 32 soccer match against Netherlands at the Macroplaza square in Monterrey, Mexico, Sunday, June 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

Norway fans, looking like Norway's star player Erling Haaland, pose after the World Cup Group I soccer match between Norway and France in Foxborough, Mass., near Boston, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

France's Desire Doue (20) celebrates after scoring his side's fourth goal during the World Cup Group I soccer match between Norway and France in Foxborough, Mass., near Boston, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) — A wildfire that killed three firefighters along the Colorado-Utah border is one of the deadliest for firefighters since an Arizona wildfire 13 years ago.

The Yarnell Hill Fire that killed 19 firefighters on June 30, 2013, remains the deadliest event on record for U.S. firefighters since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the deadliest for U.S. wildland firefighters in over a century.

The firefighters died 30 miles (48 kilometers) southwest of Prescott, Arizona, after trying to escape flames fanned by shifting winds. They were deploying fire shelters — small, heat-resistant tents that can offer a chance at survival — when flames reached them in a brushy box canyon.

Temperatures reached 2,000 degrees (1,100 Celsius).

On Saturday, a wildfire west of Grand Junction, Colorado, killed three firefighters and injured two others. That fire has burned 44 square miles (114 square kilometers). The five firefighters were members of a Helitack crew who are dropped by helicopter into remote areas to saw and dig away vegetation and create fire-resistant barriers ahead of advancing flames.

As at the Yarnell Hill Fire, the firefighters decided to stop fleeing and use fire shelters to try to survive.

A complete investigation could take several months. Full knowledge of what happened could be elusive.

Investigators of the Yarnell Hill Fire could not verify radio communications from the firefighters for a half-hour period that may have shed light on their decision-making process.

The final investigation report ultimately did not fault the firefighters, saying they were fully qualified, staffed and trained and “followed all standards and guidelines.” Their commanders likewise made reasonable judgments and decisions in rapidly worsening conditions, according to the report.

“Complexity can outpace organizational attempts to respond,” the report concluded.

Fire shelters are a last resort, offering roll-of-the-dice odds under otherwise impossible circumstances. In a 2015 wildfire in Washington state, two firefighters who used such tents survived, while three who were in a truck died.

How much the protection the tents provide depends on the conditions in which they are deployed. They are not designed to withstand direct flame, Riva Duncan, president of Grassroots Wildland Firefighters, a firefighter advocacy group, said Monday.

“It’s your last-ditch effort to try to survive,” Duncan said.

Charles Balke, of the Palisade Fire Department, wears a black band across his badge to honor three firefighters killed while fighting the Snyder Fire in Grand Junction, Colo. Sunday, June 28, 2026. (Gretel Daugherty via AP)

Firefighters with the Lower Valley Fire Protection District hang an American flag along a procession route in honor of three firefighters killed while fighting the Snyder Fire in Grand Junction, Colo. Sunday, June 28, 2026. (Gretel Daugherty via AP)

Firefighters salute as two trucks carrying the bodies of three firefighters killed while fighting the Snyder Fire are driven past in Grand Junction, Colo. Sunday, June 28, 2026. (Gretel Daugherty via AP)

A Colorado State Patrol car leads a procession carrying the bodies of three firefighters killed while fighting the Snyder Fire in Grand Junction, Colo. Sunday, June 28, 2026. (Gretel Daugherty via AP)

Firefighters carry the flag-draped body of one of the three firefighters killed while fighting the Snyder Fire in Grand Junction, Colo. Sunday, June 28, 2026. (Gretel Daugherty via AP)

A captain with the Clifton Fire Protection District salutes the passing procession carrying the bodies of three firefighters killed while fighting the Snyder Fire in Grand Junction, Colo. Sunday, June 28, 2026. (Gretel Daugherty via AP)

File - This July 3, 2013 aerial file photo shows part of Yarnell, Ariz. in the aftermath of the Yarnell Hill Fire. (AP Photo/Tom Tingle, File)

File - This July 3, 2013 aerial file photo shows Yarnell, Ariz. in the aftermath of the Yarnell Hill Fire. (AP Photo/Tom Tingle, File)