Three takeaways from Norway’s thrilling World Cup knockout breakthrough
The first 2026 FIFA World Cup knockout match at AT&T Stadium was thriller, as Norway and Ivory Coast went down to the wire Tuesday.
It was a historic achievement for both squads to make it this far. Ivory Coast made its first appearance in the knockout stage, while Norway reached this round for the first time since 1998.
Norway ultimately picked up the country’s first win in the knockout stage, 2-1, on a late goal from one of the globe’s best strikers, while Ivory Coast made a statement in the narrow defeat.
Norway will face Brazil on Sunday in the round of 16.
Here are three takeaways from Tuesday’s match:
Erling Haaland comes in clutch
Erling Haaland had been one of the early stars of the World Cup during the group stage, with American fans marveling at his combination of speed, strength and size at 6-foot-5, 205 pounds. Haaland was mostly quiet against Ivory Coast, with Les Elephants doing a superb job of limiting his touches aside from two non-threatening headers in the first half.
But the Manchester City striker delivered when it mattered most, as he scored the game-winning goal in the 86th minute. The scoring play was set up by a long ball to Patrick Berg, who put pressure on Ivory Coast’s backline before getting into the box.
Sensing the threat, goalkeeper Yahia Fofana played too far to his left, and Berg capitalized on the mistake with a perfect cross to Haaland, who simply had to tap the ball into the net. It was Haaland’s fifth goal of the tournament and maybe the easiest of them all.
Haaland has now scored in 13 straight international matches for Norway.
“I think he’s the greatest goalscorer in the world, I think there’s no doubt,” Norway coach Ståle Solbakken said. “To score five goals in three games for a small country like Norway, I don’t even think he thought he could do that before. All the credit to him, I would never swap him for anyone.”
In his World Cup debut, Haaland has put on a show and is a big reason Norway finally won a knockout match.
Ivory Coast’s statement
Ivory Coast and many of the other African national teams entered the World Cup with a chip on their shoulder.
Well before the start of the World Cup, Italy national team head coach Gennaro Gattuso generated controversy with his complaint about Africa having more qualifying slots for the World Cup.
“In 1990 and 1994, there were two African teams, now there are nine. It’s not a controversy, but there are difficulties, and we know it well,” Gattuso said in November when Italy was eliminated.
It was perceived by many as shot at the quality of African national teams and also served as motivation for the 10 African teams that made the tournament.
Nine of the 10 reached the round of 32, and many went toe-to-toe with some of the best players and teams Europe has to offer. It was no different with Les Elephants, who showed they belonged with a spirited effort despite the defeat.
After multiple close calls, Ivory Coast tied the match in the 74th minute with a superb run by Amad Diallo. He evaded multiple defenders in the box while maintaining his balance to score the equalizer and, for a while, seemed destined to take the match into extra time.
Even after Haaland’s last goal, Les Elephants continued to be relentless in seeking the equalizer. Ivory Coast generated two strong scoring opportunities in extra time, including a free kick from Diallo.
Diallo put the right combination of power and touch on the shot, aiming for the top left corner, but Norway’s Ørjan Nyland came up with one of the saves of the tournament as he used his fingertips to turn away Ivory Coast’s best chance at an equalizer.
“We had the psychological and physical lead,” Ivory Coast coach Emerse Faé said. ““I hope we made [our] countrymen proud. We did the maximum of what we could do.”
Brilliant start undermined
The first half hour of the match was played at the pace Ivory Coast desired with Les Elephants using their high press and long passes to consistently put Norway on its heels. Ivory Coast won more corners, generated more touches in the box and kept Haaland’s touches limited.
But despite dominating in those facets, Ivory Coast was unable to make the final pass it needed to generate more threatening scoring attempts, with just one shot on target in the first half. Norway would make them pay in the 39th minute when Antonio Nusa changed the complexion of the match.
Nusa scored a beautiful goal after curving a shot into the top right corner, just past the arms of Fofana to give Norway a 1-0 lead. It was the first goal of the tournament for Nusa and showed that Norway’s offense isn’t just about the brilliance of Haaland.
This story was originally published June 30, 2026 at 2:27 PM.
