Haaland Winner Sends Norway Past Ivory Coast to Face Brazil
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Norway beat Ivory Coast 2-1 at Dallas Stadium (69,665 attendance) to claim their first-ever World Cup knockout-stage victory.
- Antonio Nusa fired Norway in front with a curling 39th-minute strike into the top corner, stealing the spotlight from more-hyped Ivory Coast winger Yan Diomande.
- Amad Diallo came off the bench to clear a Norwegian volley off the line at 67', then leveled the score at 75' with a solo dribble through the Norway defense.
- Erling Haaland tapped in the 86th-minute winner from Sander Berge's cross (set up by Oscar Bobb), and has now scored in all three of his World Cup games despite registering just three first-half touches.
- Ivory Coast dominated the underlying numbers with 14 shots and 1.75 xG missed, per Sky Sports analysis — but lacked the clinical striker to convert.
- Norway's last-16 tie pits Haaland against Arsenal defender Gabriel, renewing a heated Premier League rivalry that includes a ball thrown at Gabriel's head in September 2024 and a Gabriel celebration in Haaland's face after Arsenal's 5-1 win.
Why it matters: Ivory Coast outshot Norway and missed 1.75 xG in a match they largely controlled, yet Haaland's single 86th-minute tap-in decided it — a textbook illustration of how elite strivers convert half-chances. Norway now meet a Brazil side still searching for its best XI under Ancelotti, with Haaland facing club rival Gabriel in a last-16 tie thick with Premier League subplot.
Ask SkimNews
