Norway beat Brazil 2-1 at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, Erling Haaland scoring both goals, to book a quarter-final against England1. It is Norway's deepest World Cup run in the modern era, and it eliminates one of the sport's five-time champions at the round-of-16 stage.
Haaland has carried Norway's campaign from the front. The Manchester City striker led the line here only weeks after his side rested him entirely for a dead-rubber group defeat to France, a gamble that has paid off in the knockouts. Brazil, by contrast, arrived among the pre-tournament favourites and leave earlier than any of them.
Brazil's exit set up the tournament's most consequential farewell, delivered minutes later on the same pitch by Neymar. On the football alone, Norway's win extends a run few forecast: a side ranked outside the traditional powers has knocked out an aristocrat of the game and now stands between England and a semi-final. Carlo Ancelotti's Brazil, already mid-rebuild, must now regroup for the next competitive cycle without the forward who has defined the shirt for a decade.
