Norway forward Erling Haaland scored in the 86th minute to beat Ivory Coast 2–1 on June 30 and set up a big Round of 16 date with Brazil.
Haaland, who also plays for Manchester City, broke the 1–1 tie, which lasted 12 minutes after Ivory Coast winger Amad Diallo scored in the 74th minute. Norway, ranked No. 21 in the world, couldn’t shake Ivory Coast, which made its first World Cup appearance since 2014 and fourth overall.
“If I survive this, I will survive everything. The fact that we are able to come back is perhaps what I am most proud of,” Norway head coach Stale Solbakken told reporters. ”It’s a kind of suffering you probably can’t get anywhere else, a feeling that you simply can’t get from any other match. We played against a fantastic team who have some absolute monsters, physically, who got the better of us in the duels at times.
“The match swung back and forth, it looked like it could go either way.
“I think we had one or two more chances than they had, so all in all, it was a deserved win. But I feel for their coach—the margins were slim.”
Diallo, who also plays for Manchester United, rallied Ivory Coast from a 1–0 hole, made by Norway winger Antonio Nusa’s first half goal in the 39th minute.
Nusa, who also plays for RB Leipzig, gave his team momentum in a tightly contested match at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Patrick Berg and Martin Odegaard had assists on Norway’s goals, and Nicolas Pepe had an assist on Ivory Coast’s lone score.
“That’s football. When you get chances, you have to score. We did the hard part by equalizing,” Ivory Coast head coach Emerse Fae told reporters. ”Unfortunately, we conceded that goal at the end. It’s a shame. The players gave it their all and played until the very end. We were up against a spirited team that defended well and managed to secure qualification.
“At this level, it comes down to the little details. You have to stay focused from start to finish, no matter the opponent.
“It was everyone’s first World Cup. I think the players have learned a lot. Now, we’ll work on coming back stronger for the next challenges.”
Norway possessed the ball 53 percent of the time, versus Ivory Coast’s 47 percent. Ivory Coast outshot Norway 5–4, and both teams had three big chances created. Ivory Coast had two missed chances versus Norway’s three.
Norway goalkeeper Orjan Nyland stepped up with four saves and four clearances. Ivory Coast goalkeeper Yahia Fofana had one save amid the three shots on goal that he faced, and he had one clearance.
Norway plays Brazil on July 5 at New York New Jersey Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Norwegians have a wildly strong record against Brazil, the World Cup’s most dominant nation historically.
Norway has a 2–0–2 record against Brazil in international play of any kind. The Norwegians tied Brazil 1–1 in a July 1988 friendly, or exhibition match, and Norway also beat Brazil 4–2 in a friendly in May 1997.
Both countries met less than a year later in the 1998 World Cup group stage, where Norway stunned Brazil 2–1 in France. Brazil and Norway met again in a 2006 friendly and tied 1–1.
At the current World Cup, Norway went 2–1 in the group stage with a 4–1 win over Iraq on June 16 and a 3–2 win over Senegal on June 22. The Norwegians fell 4–1 against France in their final group stage match on June 26.
Brazil advanced on June 29 with a 2–1 comeback victory over Japan in Houston. The Brazilians went 2–0–1 in the group stage with two 3–0 victories over Haiti on June 19 and Scotland on June 24, and Brazil tied Morocco 1–1 on June 13.
