Haaland double shocks Brazil, Norway advance

Shafaq News- East Rutherford

Erling Haaland scored twice as Norway shocked five-time champions Brazil 2-1 in East Rutherford, sending Stale Solbakken’s side into the FIFA World Cup quarter-finals and ending one of the tournament’s biggest title bids.

Norway will face Mexico or England in the quarter-finals.

Brazil had the first major chance to take control, but Bruno Guimaraes missed a first-half penalty, leaving Norway alive after the clearest early opening.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side threatened in flashes through Vinicius Junior, Gabriel Martinelli, and later Neymar, but Norway kept their defensive shape and forced Brazil into a tense, broken rhythm.

The breakthrough came after Andreas Schjelderup delivered into the area and Haaland rose to head Norway in front, turning one clear service into the goal Brazil had spent the week trying to prevent.

Haaland then struck again from outside the box, driving a powerful finish past Brazil’s defence to double Norway’s lead and put the five-time champions on the edge.

Neymar pulled one back from the penalty spot late on, but Brazil could not complete the rescue act.

Norway protected their lead through the final pressure and kept the contest on the terms that suited Solbakken’s side.

The result extended one of football’s strangest head-to-head records: Brazil still have never beaten Norway, who had already beaten Brazil 2-1 at the 1998 World Cup, when Tore Andre Flo and Kjetil Rekdal overturned Bebeto’s opener in the group stage.

This win carried far greater consequence, taking Norway into their first World Cup quarter-final and giving Haaland the defining performance of his country’s tournament run.

Brazil exit after another failed attempt to win a sixth world title, undone by a missed penalty, Norway’s familiar resistance, and two decisive finishes from the striker they could not contain.