The World Cup stage for monster striker Erling Haaland (Manchester City) came to an end in the quarterfinals. He displayed a sharp scoring touch at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America, lifting his home country Norway to the quarterfinals for the first time in history, but he could not overcome the wall of England, "the home of football."
The monster scorer's "storm" ended in defeat, but he confirmed ample potential on his first World Cup stage. Haaland, 26 this year, aims higher at the 2030 World Cup four years from now.
Norway lost 2-1 in a come-from-behind defeat to England after a grueling 120-minute battle including extra time, in the tournament quarterfinal held at Miami Stadium in the United States on the 12th (Korea time).
Norway took the lead with an opening goal from Andreas Schjelderup, but conceded two goals to England's Jude Bellingham, ending the tournament in disappointment.
Haaland started the match that day but failed to add a goal, and was substituted off in the second half of extra time while the team trailed 1-2. Norway, unable to fire up Haaland's scoring, ultimately could not overcome the one-goal difference and fell to England. Haaland, who had worn a troubled expression after his substitution, stared blankly at the stadium for a while after his team's loss.
Although he did not put on a big performance in the final match, Haaland was one of the top stars who lit up this tournament. Appearing in his first career World Cup, he scored a remarkable seven goals in five games, competing for the Golden Boot. He proved directly on the biggest stage why he is the world's best scorer at this moment. Having confirmed ample potential on his first World Cup stage, expectations are high for how Haaland will perform at the 2030 World Cup in Spain, Portugal and Morocco.
After the match that day, Haaland said, "It is truly moving that our performance brought the Norwegian people together as one," adding, "Our goal for this World Cup was to spread the name of Norway widely on the world stage and to establish ourselves as one of the world's best teams." He continued, "I think we have firmly imprinted Norway on the world map."
Along with Haaland's performance, Norway's "rowing" cheer was also cited as one of the memorable scenes of this tournament. The rowing cheer is a distinctive Norwegian cheering culture in which fans repeat the motion of rowing with both hands to the beat of a drum while shouting "roar," meaning to row. Norwegian players continued a ceremony throughout this World Cup of sitting on the ground after victories, beating drums and performing the rowing cheer together with spectators, drawing the world's attention.
