Erling Haaland scored two late goals to send Norway to the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time, with a 2-1 victory that condemned Brazil to their earliest exit in the competition since 1990.
Haaland broke the deadlock in the 79th minute off a left-wing cross Andreas Schjelderup and then added a decisive second with a powerful low shot into the corner of the net in the final minute of the 90.
The Manchester City striker now moves level with Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé at the front of the race for the Golden Boot, with all three on seven goals. His scoring streak for his country has now reached 14 games, with Haaland scoring 27 goals in that span.
Read more:Erling Haaland ‘the greatest goal scorer in the world’ – Norway coach Stale Solbakken
Bruno Guimarães missed a penalty in the first half, with a chance to give Brazil the lead, after a video review of a tackle from Kristoffer Ajer on Matheus Cunha. Brazil had another chance from the penalty spot after a foul on Casemiro deep into second-half stoppage time, which Neymar converted, but it came too late to rescue Carlo Ancelotti‘s side.
Brazil go home having massively underachieved expectations set pretty much at win or bust for the five-time World Cup champions. The global powerhouse were the only team to have played in the quarterfinals of every World Cup from 1994 through 2022 before their run was snapped by Norway at MetLife Stadium.
Brazil are now guaranteed to endure their longest World Cup title drought since they won the competition for the first time in 1958. By the time of the 2030 World Cup, it will have been 28 years without a World Cup title, surpassing the 24 years between 1970 and 1994.
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Norway, who had lost on their two previous visits to the World Cup last 16 — in 1938 and 1998 — will meet either Mexico or England for a place in the semifinals.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
