- Full Time
- B. Touré on for G. Konan93'
- E. Guessand on for Y. Diomande93'
- O. Diakité on for N. Pépé87'
- 86'E. Haaland
- 83'F. Aursnes on for M. Pedersen
- A. Diallo74'
- 71'O. Bobb on for A. Sørloth
- 71'A. Schjelderup on for A. Nusa
- E. Wahi on for A. Bonny60'
- A. Diallo on for C. Inao Oulaï60'
- Half Time
- 46'A. Nusa
- 39'A. Nusa
- Kick Off
-
1
Antonio Nusa1 - 2Erling Haaland1
- 3
Amad Diallo1
- 1Erling Haaland4
- 2Emmanuel Agbadou3
- 3Ghislain Konan2
- 1Guéla Doué4
- 2Yan Diomande3
- 3Patrick Berg3
- 1Nicolas Pépé1
- 2Martin Ødegaard1
- 3Patrick Berg1
- 1Nicolas Pépé3
- 2Alexander Sørloth2
- 3Christ Inao Oulaï2
- 1Sander Berge71
- 2Martin Ødegaard58
- 3Kristoffer Ajer53
- 1Ghislain Konan3
- 2Emmanuel Agbadou1
- 3Oumar Diakité1
- 1Ibrahim Sangaré2
- 2David Møller Wolfe2
- 3Nicolas Pépé1
Norway booked their place in the World Cup last 16 with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Ivory Coast, setting up a mouthwatering knockout clash with Brazil.
Antonio Nusa and Erling Haaland found the net either side of Amad Diallo’s brilliant equaliser as Norway held their nerve to secure second place in Group I. Ivory Coast battled throughout and created chances of their own, but ultimately came up just short in a contest that burst into life after a slow start.
Nusa lights up the first half
The opening half struggled to find any real rhythm, although Ivory Coast looked the brighter side early on. Ghislain Konan worked himself into a promising position after 20 minutes but dragged his effort into the side netting, before Yan Diomande dazzled down the wing only to see his dangerous cross hacked clear after causing confusion inside the Norway penalty area.
Norway gradually grew into the contest and Erling Haaland was first to threaten, directing a tame header straight at the goalkeeper before Antonio Nusa produced the game’s first moment of genuine quality. Martin Odegaard released the winger down the left and Nusa cut inside onto his right foot before curling a stunning strike into the top corner for his ninth international goal.
The Scandinavians nearly doubled their advantage before the interval. Alexander Sorloth rose highest to knock a cross into Haaland’s path, but Ismael Sangare produced a superb last-ditch clearance to deny the Manchester City striker from close range. Norway then threatened again from the resulting corner, although Sorloth could only head wide.
Diallo responds before Haaland has the final say
Ivory Coast emerged with renewed purpose after the restart and Nicolas Pepe should have restored parity when the ball dropped kindly inside the penalty area. However, Orjan Nyland reacted brilliantly to keep out the winger’s powerful effort from inside 10 yards.
Norway continued to carry a threat from set pieces and Torbjørn Heggem thought he had doubled their lead midway through the second half, only for Amad Diallo to produce a superb goal-line clearance.
Diallo quickly made an impact at the other end. The substitute exchanged passes on the edge of the box before gliding past a defender with clever footwork and calmly slotting beyond Nyland to level the scores with just over 15 minutes remaining.
The joy proved short-lived. Oscar Bobb threaded an excellent pass through the Ivory Coast defence and Haaland made no mistake, bundling the ball home despite failing to catch his finish cleanly. The goal extended the striker’s remarkable run to 13 consecutive international matches with a goal.
Diallo almost rescued his side deep into stoppage time with a fierce free-kick from long range, but Nyland produced another outstanding save to tip the effort over the crossbar. Norway held on to secure victory and a place in the last 16, where Brazil now await.
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