Norway will look to match their best World Cup performance and reach the round of 16 when they face the Ivory Coast in Dallas this afternoon.
Stale Solbakken’s men stormed through Group I with victories over Iraq and Senegal before suffering a 4-1 defeat to France in their final match, finishing second behind Les Bleus.
The headline act has been Erling Haaland, who scored four goals across the group stage and once again demonstrated why he is regarded as one of the most dangerous forwards in world football.
Emerse Fae’s Ivory Coast side arrived at the tournament in strong form and successfully navigated a difficult Group E campaign.
Les Elephants opened with a 1-0 win over Ecuador before suffering a narrow 2-1 defeat against Germany, a match in which they led through Franck Kessie before eventually being overturned by Julian Nagelsmann’s side.
Ivory Coast responded in their final group match, defeating Curacao 2-0 thanks to a Nicolas Pepe brace to secure second place and book their spot in the knockout rounds.
Where to watch Ivory Coast vs Norway: TV channel, online live stream
The match takes place on Tuesday, June 30 at Dallas Stadium.
In the UK, the match will be broadcast on BBC One and across their channels, including on BBC iPlayer.
Ivory Coast vs Norway stats
- Ivory Coast are appearing in the World Cup knockout stages for the first time in their history.
- Les Elephants conceded only two goals across their three group-stage matches.
- Ivory Coast kept clean sheets in two of their three games against Ecuador and Curacao.
- Nicolas Pepe scored both goals in the 2-0 victory over Curacao on matchday three.
- Franck Kessie has been directly involved in two of Ivory Coast’s three goals at the tournament.
- Ivory Coast have won five of their last six matches in all competitions.
- Norway scored eight goals in three group-stage matches, averaging 2.67 goals per game.
- Erling Haaland scored four goals in the group stage and has 59 goals in 52 international appearances.
- Norway have kept only one clean sheet in their last 10 matches across all competitions.
- Both teams scored in all three of Norway’s World Cup group matches.
- Martin Odegaard has contributed to goals in each of Norway’s victories at the tournament.
- Norway are playing in their first World Cup knockout match since the 1998 round of 16.
