Norway, led by monster striker Erling Haaland, has sunk the Samba squad of Brazil to secure a ticket to the quarterfinals of the FIFA World Cup, a stage they have reached for the first time in 28 years.

In the Round of 16 match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup held at the New York/New Jersey Stadium today (July 6), Norway defeated Brazil 2-1, powered by a brace from Haaland.

Having returned to the World Cup stage for the first time in 28 years since the 1998 France tournament, Norway achieved its best-ever result in World Cup history with this victory.

Furthermore, Norway, which also defeated Brazil 2-1 in the group stage of that 1998 tournament, has now recorded two wins in two all-time World Cup meetings against Brazil.

Norway will now face the winner of the Mexico-England match in the quarterfinals to compete for a spot in the semifinals.

On the other hand, Brazil, which holds the record for the most World Cup titles (five: 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002), has been eliminated early.

This marks the first time in 36 years that Brazil has been knocked out in the Round of 16 since the 1990 Italy tournament (a 0-1 loss to Argentina).

The early flow of the game belonged to Norway, which dominated possession with concise passing play.

In the 3rd minute of the first half, Patrick Berg found the back of the net with a sharp shot from outside the penalty area, but the goal was canceled due to an offside call on Alexander Sorloth in the preceding play.

Having survived the scare, Brazil immediately launched a counterattack, but they were repeatedly thwarted by the brilliant saves of Norwegian goalkeeper Orjan Nyland.

In the 14th minute of the first half, Brazil earned a penalty kick following a foul by Kristoffer Ajer, and Bruno Guimaraes stepped up as the kicker.

However, his hesitant shot lacked power, and goalkeeper Nyland, who had accurately read the direction, dove to his left to make the save, preventing Brazil from taking the lead.

Subsequently, a shot by Gabriel Martinelli after breaking through the left flank and a decisive strike by Vinicius Junior, who intercepted the ball from Martin Odegaard outside the penalty box, both failed to overcome the wall of Nyland.

Brazil manager Carlo Ancelotti, who struggled to gain control while conceding possession, tightened the offensive pressure by substituting Martinelli for Neymar in the 23rd minute of the second half.

However, it was ultimately Haaland who broke the tense 0-0 deadlock.

In the 34th minute of the second half, taking advantage of a slight lapse in Brazil's man-to-man marking on Haaland in the center, Andreas Schjelderup delivered a cross in front of the goal.

Haaland, who did not miss the opportunity, surged inward and headed the ball into the net.

Stunned by the blow, Brazil launched an all-out offensive for an equalizer, but the final defensive line anchored by Nyland did not collapse easily.

In the 41st minute of the second half, a shot by Endrick deflected off a defender and headed exquisitely toward the top right corner of the goal, but Nyland backpedaled and dove to punch it away.

In the end, it was Norway that sealed the victory against Brazil, which failed to capitalize on its decisive chances.

In the 45th minute of the second half, receiving a pass from Schjelderup near the left side of the penalty area, Haaland fired a powerful, cannon-like left-footed shot into the net once again.

With these two goals, Haaland reached 7 goals in the tournament, moving into a tie for the top scorer spot alongside Lionel Messi (Argentina) and Kylian Mbappe (France).

In the 7th minute of second-half stoppage time, when it seemed the game would end as it was, Brazil earned a penalty kick and grabbed a final opportunity.

Substitute Leo Ostigard elbowed Casemiro during an aerial duel, and the referee pointed to the penalty spot without hesitation.

Neymar, who stepped up as the kicker, engaged in a psychological battle with goalkeeper Nyland before watching his movements until the end and tucking the ball in with his signature inside-foot kick to pull one back.

However, there was not enough time left to turn the game around.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)