Haaland's Brace Leads Norway to First-Ever Quarterfinals, Defeating Title Contender Brazil

Led by 'monster striker' Erling Haaland, Norway has sunk the 'Samba squad' Brazil, securing a ticket to the quarterfinals in their first FIFA World Cup appearance in 28 years.

Norway defeated Brazil 2-1 in the round of 16 of the 2026 North and Central America World Cup, held at the New York/New Jersey Stadium today (July 6), thanks to 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 the competition with this victory.

Furthermore, having also defeated Brazil 2-1 in the group stage of that 1998 tournament, Norway has now recorded a perfect 2-0 record against Brazil in World Cup history.

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

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 sequence.

Brazil, having survived the scare, immediately launched a counterattack but was repeatedly blocked 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, with Bruno Guimaraes stepping up as the kicker.

However, his hesitant shot was somewhat weak, and goalkeeper Nyland, having accurately read the direction, dove to his left to make the save, preventing Brazil from taking the lead.

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

Brazil manager Carlo Ancelotti, struggling to gain control while conceding possession, tightened the screws on his attack by substituting Neymar for Martinelli 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 had penetrated inward, did not miss the opportunity and found the net with a brilliant header.

Struck by the blow, Brazil launched an all-out offensive to find an equalizer, but the defense anchored by Nyland did not collapse easily.

In the 41st minute of the second half, a shot by Endrick deflected off a defender and curled 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 a Brazil side that 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 found the net once again with a powerful, cannon-like left-footed shot.

With these two goals, Haaland reached 7 goals in the tournament, moving into a tie for the lead in the Golden Boot race alongside Lionel Messi (Argentina) and Kylian Mbappe (France).

In the 7th minute of second-half stoppage time, with the game seemingly coming to an end, Brazil earned a penalty kick to seize a final opportunity.

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

Neymar, acting 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 bring the game back to level terms.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.