Norway 2-1 Côte d'Ivoire - Haaland waits, then ends it
Norway survived Côte d'Ivoire's second-half surge because Erling Haaland only needed one late opening to turn a tense Round of 32 match into Norway's first World Cup knockout win.
Norway spent 85 minutes looking like a team trying not to be dragged into extra time. Then Patrick Berg slipped the ball across the box, Erling Haaland stabbed it in, and the country's first World Cup knockout win became real. Norway beat Côte d'Ivoire 2-1 in Arlington and will face Brazil in New York/New Jersey on July 5. 1
Timeline
- 39' - Norway 1-0: Antonio Nusa cut inside from the left and bent a right-footed shot into the far corner. 1
- 74' - 1-1: Amad Diallo, already the substitute who had cleared Torbjørn Heggem's effort off the line, finished a give-and-go with Nicolas Pépé by dancing through traffic and smashing in the equalizer. 1
- 86' - Norway 2-1: Haaland arrived for Berg's low cross and scored his fifth goal of the tournament, and his 60th for Norway. 1
- 90+6': Diallo nearly forced extra time with a free kick, but Ørjan Nyland got across to save it. 1
The numbers
This was not a clean Norwegian control job. ESPN's match page had Norway ahead 53%-47% in possession, but Côte d'Ivoire put five shots on goal to Norway's four and both teams created three big chances. 2 The Elephants had enough chances to make this hurt for years.
One-line verdict: Côte d'Ivoire had the chaos; Norway had the one player who only needs a door left half open.
Quote of the day
"It's history, it feels unbelievable," Haaland told FIFA. "Now everything is a bonus." 3
References
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