Norway is through to its first ever World Cup quarterfinal, and the manner of the win says as much about a country stepping out of its own football shadow as it does about the man who got them there.
Erling Haaland scored twice in the final eleven minutes to send five time champions Brazil crashing out 2-1 in the round of 16 on Sunday, condemning Carlo Ancelotti's side to their earliest World Cup exit since 1990. It was Norway's first appearance at the tournament in 28 years, and the deepest run in the nation's history.
For a country of just five million people, the scale of what happened at MetLife Stadium is hard to overstate. Norway had never beaten Brazil in four previous meetings. On Sunday they did it with 65 percent possession, controlling long stretches of the match against a team many had picked to reach the final. Goalkeeper Orjan Nyland saved a first half penalty from Bruno Guimaraes to keep the score level, then produced a string of further saves to deny Vinicius Junior before Haaland struck twice in the closing minutes to settle it. Neymar pulled one back from the penalty spot deep into stoppage time, in what he later said would be his final World Cup appearance for Brazil.
Haaland, who plays his club football for Manchester City, described the win as something he had not allowed himself to imagine. He said he had dreamed of playing in the World Cup for Norway but never expected to beat Brazil, and admitted the result had made him question his own assumptions about what was possible. Teammate Andreas Schjelderup, who came on as a substitute, joked afterward that the rest of the squad was simply grateful Haaland happened to be Norwegian.
