"Monster striker" Erling Haaland scored the winning goal to lead Norway into the round of 16 at the FIFA World Cup for the first time in 28 years.
Norway defeated Ivory Coast 2-1 in the round-of-32 match of the 2026 World Cup, held at Dallas Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Monday (Korea time). The result sets up a clash with Brazil on Saturday for a place in the quarterfinals. Ivory Coast, returning to the World Cup finals after 12 years, succeeded in advancing from the group stage for the first time but bowed out in their opening knockout match.
Norway, back at the finals for the first time in 28 years since the 1998 France tournament, matched their last-16 result from that competition. At the France tournament, 32 nations competed and teams advanced to the round of 16 by passing through the group stage. In this tournament, featuring 48 nations, Norway beat Iraq and Senegal while losing to France, finishing second in Group I with two wins and one loss to reach the round-of-32 knockout stage. By clearing the first hurdle of the tournament on Monday, they tied their best-ever World Cup finals result.
The opening goal belonged to Norway. In the 39th minute of the first half, Antonio Nusa received a pass from Martin Odegaard, beat a defender, and found the net with a right-footed shot from the left side of the penalty area. Trailing, Ivory Coast leveled the score in the 29th minute of the second half through an equalizer from Amad Diallo, a striker with English Premier League (EPL) side Manchester United.
With the score at 1-1 in the 41st minute of the second half, Haaland stepped up as the match-winner. On the right flank, Patrick Berg received a through pass from Norway's Oscar Bobb and delivered a cutback inside the penalty area, and the onrushing Haaland calmly finished to score the winning goal.
With this goal, Haaland recorded his fifth goal of the tournament, closing within one goal of Lionel Messi (Argentina, 6 goals) to continue the race for the Golden Boot. Haaland scored a brace in Norway's opening group-stage match against Iraq and netted two more goals in the second match against Senegal. After sitting out the final group-stage match against France, he returned on Monday and immediately got back on the scoresheet, showcasing red-hot form by scoring in all three matches he has played.
