Norway sank "samba football" powerhouse Brazil, riding a brace from Erling Haaland (Manchester City).
Norway defeated Brazil 2-1 in the round of 16 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, held Friday (Korea time) at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the United States.
Norway, which reached the finals for the first time in 28 years since the 1998 France tournament, enjoyed the pleasure of advancing to the quarterfinals for the first time in its history.
Norway will now compete for a spot in the semifinals against the winner of the round-of-16 match between Mexico and England.
Brazil suffered its first loss of the tournament and failed to reach the quarterfinals. It was the first time Brazil has been eliminated in the World Cup round of 16 in 36 years, since the 1990 Italy tournament.
Brazil dominated the flow early in the match. Brazil rattled Norway's defense with the threatening movements of Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid) and Matheus Cunha (Manchester United).
In the 11th minute, the movements of the two players nearly led to a goal. Cunha was tripped by Norway's defense while breaking through on the left side of the penalty area, drawing a penalty kick.
But Norway had goalkeeper Orjan Nyland (Sevilla). He read the shot direction of kicker Bruno Guimaraes (Newcastle) exactly and made the save.
Norway went on the counterattack, but Martin Odegaard's shot went wide of the goal, and Haaland's shot was blocked by goalkeeper Alisson.
In the second half, Brazil continued to create scoring chances but could not get past Norway's Nyland.
In the end, the opening goal belonged to Norway. In the 80th minute, Haaland connected a cross that came in from the left flank with a powerful header to record the opening goal.
Haaland's scoring instinct, once ignited, flashed again in the 90th minute. Haaland took a ball played from the left of the penalty area and fired a left-footed shot aimed at the corner of the goal to complete his brace.
With his two goals, Haaland scored his seventh goal of the tournament, tying Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe atop the scoring charts.
Brazil, which continued attacking without giving up until the end, pulled one back with a Neymar penalty kick in second-half stoppage time but could not turn the game around.
