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Norway beat Ivory Coast 2-1 to win their first ever World Cup knockout match, a genuinely historic result for a country not exactly synonymous with tournament football. Antonio Nusa curled in the opener in the first half, Amad Diallo levelled it for Ivory Coast in the 74th minute, and then Erling Haaland did the Haaland thing, popping up with the winner in the 86th. No red cards, no extra time needed, just Ivory Coast throwing everything at an equaliser that never arrived. Norway move on to face Brazil in the round of 16, a considerably tougher ask; Ivory Coast are out, left to rue a second-half slip after Diallo's leveller had them dreaming.
Pre-match Talking Points
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1Ivory Coast are in the World Cup knockouts for the first time ever, which is either inspiring or terrifying depending on how you look at it. Norway haven't been at a World Cup since 1998, so this is Erling Haaland's first taste of the big tournament — and he's been making up for lost time. Lose this and one of them goes home having ticked a box they've waited years to tick; win it and they're suddenly in the last 16.
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2These two have essentially never met at a World Cup, which means there's no historic rivalry to speak of — just a clean slate and a lot at stake. Norway finished second in Group I behind France; Ivory Coast came second in Group E. Two sides who did enough to get out of their groups, now trying to convince everyone they belong in the next round.
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3Erling Haaland has scored four goals in two games, and if he scores today he'll become the first player since Hungary's Sándor Kocsis in 1954 to score in each of his first three World Cup appearances. That's a stat that sounds like it was made up, but it wasn't. He's 25, at his first World Cup, playing for the biggest club in the world, and somehow still has something to prove. Watch him anyway — even if Norway lose, he tends to make things happen.
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4Ivory Coast's wildcard is Yan Diomande, a 22-year-old who's been one of the most exciting players of the group stage. He completed more dribbles and created more chances than almost any other player in the group stage, which is impressive company given this is his first World Cup. Norway's coach Ståle Solbakken has already flagged the Ivorians as 'physical' — which is either genuine concern or a very polite way of saying he's not quite sure how to stop them.
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5Norway haven't been at a World Cup since Haaland was four years old. That's the whole story, really. A nation with one of the best players on the planet has spent nearly three decades locked out of the world's biggest tournament, and now he's here, scoring for fun, carrying the weight of an entire country's footballing frustration. Ivory Coast, for their part, have never made it past the group stage in their history — until now. First timers meeting people who've been waiting 28 years. Something's going to give.
Team Talking Points
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1Ivory Coast's World Cup ended in the Round of 32, beaten 2-1 by Norway on June 30th when Erling Haaland scored the winner with four minutes to go. It's a painful way to exit, but the defeat came after Ivory Coast had already made history — this was the first time in the country's history they'd reached a World Cup knockout stage at all.
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2The high point was getting there in the first place. Wins over Ecuador and Curaçao either side of a narrow loss to Germany saw them finish second in their group, and the Curaçao win was the one that actually sealed a first-ever trip to the knockouts — a genuine landmark for a football nation that's produced serious talent for decades without this exact box being ticked.
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3Against Norway, Ivory Coast were behind with 20 minutes left, then substitute Amad Diallo dragged them level — clearing a Norwegian effort off the line at one end before scoring at the other. It's the kind of twenty-minute cameo that should have won the game and instead just delayed the ending.
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4Amad Diallo was the impact story: on for the second half, decisive at both ends, and unlucky to finish on the losing side after doing more in thirty-odd minutes than most players manage in ninety.
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5Ivory Coast go home from their first-ever World Cup knockout appearance having lost it late to one of the tournament's biggest stars. That's a genuinely good problem to have — the ceiling just got higher than it's ever been for this team.
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Top thing to say down the pub
Ivory Coast reached a World Cup knockout stage for the first time in their history, then lost it to an Erling Haaland winner with four minutes left — heartbreaking, but also the best World Cup the country's ever had.
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Avoid saying
Don't say "Ivory Coast always underachieve at World Cups" — that line belongs to the Drogba generation; this team just did something none of those sides managed, so the joke's out of date.
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1Norway's tournament ended in the quarterfinal, beaten 2-1 by England on July 12 — heartbreak, but the end of the best World Cup run in the country's history.
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2This was Norway's first World Cup since 1998, a 28-year wait finally over after a perfect qualifying campaign: eight wins from eight, scoring 37 goals along the way, eight more than any other qualifier. They did not arrive as tourists.
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3The high point, and one of the moments of the whole tournament, was beating five-time champions Brazil 2-1 in the round of 16 on July 5. Erling Haaland scored twice in the last eleven minutes to send Brazil out of a World Cup earlier than they had at any point since 1990.
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4Haaland was the obvious headline act — goals in the win over Brazil, top scorer for his country all tournament — but captain Martin Ødegaard was the calm head running the midfield underneath him, the reason Norway looked composed rather than just dangerous.
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5A first-ever World Cup quarterfinal after 28 years in the wilderness is not a bad way to end a 'please just qualify for once' era. Norway go home as one of the genuine stories of the tournament, and nobody who watched it will forget the name Haaland.
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Top thing to say down the pub
Norway hadn't been to a World Cup since 1998, turned up and knocked Brazil out with a Haaland double in the last 11 minutes — one of the stories of the whole tournament, full stop.
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Avoid saying
Don't say 'shame they've only got Haaland' — Ødegaard ran an entire midfield to a first-ever quarterfinal. This was not a one-man show, even if the finishing was.