International friendlies round up: Olise and Gakpo impress days before World Cup | OneFootball

Michael Olise and Cody Gakpo turned in superb individual performances taking their national teams to victory in the final warm-up game just three days before the 2026 Word Cup begins.

It was Didier Dechamps’ home send-off as France manager, with the 57-year-old set to step down upon the expiry of his contract with Les Bleus after the tournament, while Colombia and Jordan also went face to face.

FromTheSpot takes you through tonight’s action and its consequences involving the World Cup nations ahead of the action getting underway this Thursday.

France 3-1 Northern Ireland: Olise hits brilliant hat-trick

Kasey Rees, World Cup correspondent

The Bayern Munich winger assured that his manager left home soil for the final time with a victory, meeting expectations by sweeping aside Northern Ireland at the Decathlon Arena in Lille.

France started strongly, creating several dangerous attacks and dominating possession as Kylian Mbappé missed France’s first opportunity to give his side the lead before seeing his opener ruled out for offside.

Olise was the standout performer, with his trio of strikes crucial to fend off a late fightback as Northern Ireland pulled one back through Patrick Kelly in the second half before the Frenchman steered home his third.

The Frenchman, 24, has very much stamped his authority on his place in Dechamps’ starting line up just before Les Bleus – who maintained their attacking intent throughout – jet off to the World Cup finals, now days away.

France open their World Cup campaign against Senegal in Group I at the New Jersey Stadium on Tuesday 16th of June.

Netherlands 2-1 Uzbekistan: Gakpo nets 98th-minute winner behind closed doors

Another player that impressed, albeit without any supporters there to witness it was Cody Gakpo. The versatile attacker netted both of 10-man Netherlands’ goals as they snatched a win against Uzbekistan in New York.

Both from the penalty spot, the Liverpool winger kept his cool under pressure and converted both opportunities presented to him from the spot – and will do well if he plays with an equally cool head going into the World Cup.

Igor Sergeev thought he had made himself the hero after coming off the bench to cancel out his 32nd minute penalty two minutes into second-half stoppage time, five minutes after Dutch striker Guus Till was shown a straight red card.

But Gakpo made sure that his country overcame their slight hiccup during World Cup preparations, losinng 1-0 to Algeria last time out having impressively gone the entirety of their qualifying campaign unbeaten.

Netherlands face Japan in their World Cup opener, one of the most exciting meetings in the first week of action, while Uzbekistan face Colombia who themselves ended their preparations in style.

Colombia 2-0 Jordan: no surprises in San Diego

In a night of individual performances, that theme was also present in Colombia’s win over Jordan as Palmeiras attacking midfielder Jhon Arias scored twice before the hour mark, playing in the number 10.

Both sides made many substitutions throughout the game under the American sun, as the South American side ended their World Cup preparations with back-to-back victories prior to facing Uzbekistan in their first group game.

As for Jordan, ranked 50 places below their opponents, they’re still waiting for a first victory since their 3-2 defeat to Morocco in the final of the FIFA Arab Cup, in which they beat Saudi Arabia 1-0 to progress to the showpiece event.

Jordan did have their moments throughout, registering 10 shots and getting two on target despite having just 36% possession – something they will have to rectify if they are to cause any surprises in this year’s World Cup finals.

However, they received stern tests against Switzerland and now Los Cafeteros to prepare themselves for making their debut on the world stage, where they will be up against it from the get-go when they play Austria next Wednesday.

For detailed reports, reaction, and analysis of the World Cup as it happens, head to our website and OneFootball page.