Carlsen Predicts Norway Will Beat Iraq in World Cup Opener

Magnus Carlsen predicted on Tuesday that Norway would defeat Iraq in their World Cup opener and advance to the knockout stage. The five-time world chess champion spoke in Hong Kong, where he is competing in the World Rapid and Blitz Team Chess Championships that begin Wednesday. Norway face Iraq at 6:00 am Hong Kong time on Wednesday, 2200 GMT Tuesday.

Carlsen said he would watch the match live despite the early hour. "I will be up early anyway, so I will 100 percent watch the game live," he told AFP. "First of all, we will hammer Iraq in the first game and then we'll pretty much be through after that," Carlsen said.

He added that Norway would reach the round of 16 and become "slight underdogs" from that point. Norway return to the World Cup for the first time since 1998 after winning all eight qualifying matches in a group that included Italy. The team scored 37 goals during qualification, 16 of them by Erling Haaland.

Carlsen said the quarter-finals remain a realistic target. "I think the quarter-finals are a somewhat realistic goal and, you know, once you get there, anything can happen," he said. Norway next play Senegal and France in Group I. Carlsen noted that Norway's form against top teams remains difficult to assess.

"I think there's a very clear first tier of a few teams," he said. " Carlsen, a Real Madrid supporter, compared the strategic elements of chess and football.

"Strategy, chess and football, it's not that different really," he said.