Decision vindicated. The Norway coach, Ståle Solbakken, had taken a major gamble in resting almost his entire side in the final group game against France, drawing stiff criticism, not least from those who had paid hundreds of dollars to witness a showdown between Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé. As Solbakken said, the decision would stand or fall on the result of this game. Norway are in the last 16, and therefore his policy can be considered justified.
It was, though, a mightily close-run thing. Having taken a first-half lead through Antonio Nusa, Norway had seemed to be in control, Côte d’Ivoire’s possession sterile. But then Amad Diallo produced one of the great substitute interventions, making a remarkable clearance to keep out a Torbjørn Heggem volley before scoring a stunning equaliser. But with four minutes remaining, Erling Haaland bundled in the winner. He may had mis-hit it, but none of the Norway fans packed behind that goal cared as they progressed to a last-16 tie against Brazil in New York/New Jersey.
For both these sides this was rare territory; neither had ever previously won a knockout game at a World Cup. Côte d’Ivoire, largely because of a series of brutal draws, had never previously got through the group stage despite winning a game at every World Cup they have been to. Norway, meanwhile, had played only two knockout games: in 1938 when there was no group stage, and in 1998. On both occasions they lost to Italy.
Making his changes was Solbakken’s attempt to break that duck. The Bodø/Glimt midfielder Patrick Berg was the only player to start both Norway’s last two matches – and it was he who teed up Haaland for his winner. Berg and Haaland are two of the three Norway players whose fathers played in World Cups. Remarkably three other members of this squad also have fathers who were international players. There is an obvious togetherness about the group, something seen in their post-match celebrations as a drum was brought down from the stands allowing Martin Ødegaard to lead players and fans alike in a mass Viking row.
This was Norway playing a game with which they are unfamiliar. This generation has been so free-scoring that they have tended to blow opponents away. Sitting in, defending, enduring, surviving, has not been their style. But they did it and it worked; although whether a more penetrative side than Côte d’Ivoire might have made more of their possession will soon become apparent; Brazil will offer a major test of their resolve.
As against Germany, when they ended up losing 2-1 after taking the lead, Côte d’Ivoire started impressively, although here they dominated possession rather than looking to play on the counter. Again their threat came down the flank, Nicolas Pépé, who is now at Villarreal, showing a directness and verve that he very rarely had in his days at Arsenal. He probably had the best opportunity of the first half, arriving on to a Yan Diomande cross at the back post, but volleying across rather than at goal, the ball being hacked over the bar by Kristoffer Ajer.
Chances, though, came irregularly, which is the problem Côte d’Ivoire have repeatedly come up against since they won the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations on home soil (in 2024). In that tournament, they lost two of their group games, including a 4-0 reverse against Equatorial Guinea, sacked their manager to bring in the present head coach, Emerse Faé, but somehow still went on to glory. Once the inexplicable magic that inspired Les Revenants, as that side became known, had worn off, though, they have suffered from a lack of precision and cutting edge. Their 3-2 defeat by Egypt in the Cup of Nations quarter-final in January was typical; lots of possession, lots of opportunities, and not much in the way of actual goal threat.
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So it was again. The opening goal, when it came six minutes before the break, was from a Norwegian wide forward. Ødegaard slipped the ball wide for Nusa, who stepped inside Pépé, and bent a precise finish around Yahia Fofana and into the corner. Norway seemed broadly untroubled, but then enter Diallo. With 16 minutes remaining, he picked the ball up on the right, played a sharp one-two with Pépé that took three Norwegians out of the game, swayed past a fourth, then bounced a finish past Ørjan Nyland.
The game suddenly was alive again. The thought was that the spirit of Les Revenants was being reinvoked, a team that didn’t know when it was finished. The nature of Diallo’s block from Heggem, denying a certain goal, and the brilliant nature of his goal might have caused Norwegian heads to drop, for a sense to descend that it was not their day. But Berg and Haaland dragged the game back and, in injury time, Nyland made a superb flailing save to keep out a Diallo free-kick. The Norwegian longboat rows on.
