Erling Haaland struck with four minutes to go to sink the Ivory Coast and send Norway into the round of 16 at the 2026 World Cup.
The Manchester City goal machine had been virtually anonymous but he came alive late on, tapping in Patrick Berg’s cross to hand Norway their first ever win in a World Cup knockout game.
Defeat was harsh on the Ivory Coast, for whom Amad Diallo conjured up a brilliant goal after coming off the bench on the hour mark. Antonio Nusa had opened the scoring for Norway six minutes before the break.
Norway were not to be denied, though, and Haaland’s goal means they go forward to take on Brazil on Sunday.
Nusa stunner gives Norway the advantage
The Ivory Coast had the better of the chances in the opening half hour but Nusa then showed his class with a brilliant strike after 39 minutes, cutting in off the left flank and curling a shot past Yahia Fofana into the top right-hand corner.
It prompted a five-minute spell for Norway that could have resulted in two more goals.
First, Haaland saw a close-range volley deflected wide by Ivory Coast midfielder Ibrahim Sangare after he latched on to Alexander Sorloth’s knockdown.
And from the resulting corner, Sorloth somehow headed wide with the goal gaping.
Norway had posed little attacking threat up to that point with Haaland restricted to two speculative headers that failed to seriously test Fofana.
At the other end, Ghislain Konan should have done better than fire a shot into the side-netting after 20 minutes and Nicolas Pepe was equally wasteful when latching on to a cross from Yan Diomande at the far post approaching the half-hour mark.
Amad introduction changes the game as Ivory Coast hit back
The second half followed a similar pattern with little to separate the two sides and chances being created at both ends.
Pepe’s frustrating afternoon continued when he fired a volley straight at Norway goalkeeper Orjan Nyland, prompting Ivory Coast boss Emerse Fae to introduce more craft to his side with the entrance of Amad on the hour mark.
The 23-year-old immediately showed his value at both ends.
Having first cleared Torbjorn Heggem’s effort off the line from a corner, the Manchester United winger produced a more customary moment of magic, playing a one-two with Pepe, stepping inside a Norwegian defender and firing past Nyland.
It was a superb goal that made his absence from the starting XI even more mystifying.
The Ivory Coast seemed the more likely winners at that stage but they bargained without Haaland.
The former Borussia Dortmund man had been superbly shackled by the Ivorian defence all afternoon but they fell asleep in the 86th minute and it was to prove crucial. Oscar Bobb started the move by slipping in Berg down the right side of the box and his low cross was touched home by Haaland, albeit not convincingly.
Ivory Coast poured forward in search of a second equaliser but to no avail. Their best attempt saw Amad’s 25-yard free-kick magnificently tipped over the bar by Nyland at full stretch.
