WORLD CUP – Erling Haaland netted a brilliant brace, taking him level with Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi on seven World Cup goals, as Norway stunned Brazil 2-1 to book their place in the quarter-finals.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Erling Haaland’s remarkable scoring run on the international stage continued as his brilliant brace helped Norway beat Brazil 2-1 and advance to the World Cup quarter-finals.
Haaland netted in his 14th consecutive appearance for Norway with two excellent finishes, and a date against England or Mexico awaits in the last eight on July 11.
Neymar, on what was likely his final World Cup appearance, slotted in a stoppage-time consolation penalty, which came after Bruno Guimarães had missed from 12 yards in the first half.
Norway thought they had made an ideal start when Patrick Berg fired Alexander Sørloth’s cutback into the top-right corner, but the goal was ruled out for offside against the Atlético Madrid striker after he was slipped in by Martin Ødegaard.
But Brazil were handed a glorious chance to take the lead at the other end when Matheus Cunha was brought down in the penalty area by Kristoffer Ajer, with referee Ismail Elfath awarding the spot-kick after a VAR review. However, Guimarães saw his stuttering effort from 12 yards saved by Ørjan Nyland.
The Norway goalkeeper had to be on his toes shortly after the hydration break to keep Gabriel Martinelli’s tight-angled shot out, before saving from Vinícius Júnior’s attempt after he had stolen possession from Ødegaard inside his own penalty area.
Carlo Ancelotti introduced Endrick off the bench in the 58th minute, and he almost made an instant impact after being slipped in behind the Norway defence by Vinícius, but when one-on-one with Nyland, he prodded wide of the left post.
However, it was Norway who took the lead 11 minutes from time through talismanic striker Haaland, who rose above Gabriel Magalhães to power Andreas Schjelderup’s lofted delivery into the bottom-right corner, but Brazil had their chances to draw level.
An attempted clearance by Ajer saw the ball deflect towards his own goal, but goalkeeper Nyland did brilliantly to tip the ball onto the post before Casemiro flashed a cross into the area that just evaded Vinícius and Neymar.
But Norway’s progression to the last eight was sealed by Haaland in the 90th minute, with the Manchester City striker collecting Schjelderup’s pass and arrowing a fierce left-footed drive past Alisson from outside the area.
Neymar, on his 15th appearance for Brazil at the World Cup, eventually found a way past Nyland in the 100th minute from the spot after Leo Østigård was penalised for an elbow on Casemiro, but Norway held on for yet another seismic victory.
Brazil made to pay the penalty by striking Viking Haaland
Ahead of kick-off, Haaland had played down Norway’s chances of beating five-time champions Brazil and reaching the quarter-finals of the World Cup, but one of the standout performers of this World Cup single-handedly kept his nation’s dream run at the finals going.
Haaland became just the eighth European player to score in each of his first four World Cup appearances, and the first since Christian Vieri for Italy in 1998. He has also now scored in each of his last 14 competitive internationals overall, netting 27 goals in this run.
And he is the first player to score two goals in a World Cup match against Brazil since Toni Kroos and André Schürrle both did so during Germany’s 7-1 victory against them in the 2014 semi-finals, though the Seleção were left to rue Guimarães’ missed penalty.
The Newcastle United midfielder missed what was his first penalty attempt for Brazil, having scored each of his two for the Magpies in the Premier League last season, while Guimarães is the first Brazil player to fail to convert their penalty in a World Cup match since Zico against France in 1986, excluding shoot-outs.
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