Norway pulled off a sensational upset by knocking Brazil out of the 2026 World Cup
On July 5, the Norwegian national team advanced to the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time in history, pulling off a sensational upset against Brazil. Erling Haaland was the hero of the match, scoring twice and helping his team knock one of the tournament’s top favorites out of the competition.
The World Cup saw the biggest upset of the knockout stage so far. In the Round of 16, the Norwegian national team knocked out one of the tournament’s top favorites—Brazil. The match kept fans on the edge of their seats until the final seconds and ended with a 2-1 victory for the Scandinavians.
The match began at a breakneck pace. As early as the 3rd minute, Norway’s Patrick Berg scored against the South Americans, but the referees disallowed the goal due to offside.
A few minutes later, Carlo Ancelotti’s team seized the initiative. After a quick counterattack, David Wolfe brought down Gabriel Martinelli with a sliding tackle inside his own penalty area. The referee reviewed the play via VAR and awarded a penalty kick.
However, Bruno Guimarães was unable to beat Erjan Nyland from the spot—the Norwegian goalkeeper saved the shot, giving his opponent the first missed penalty of his career.
The Brazilians dominated the rest of the first half. Nyland was literally on a roll, making consecutive saves on “sure-thing” shots from Danilo, Vinícius Júnior, and Guimarães himself after the break. The Scandinavians held on solely thanks to iron discipline and the brilliance of their goalkeeper.
In the 68th minute, Ancelotti sent Neymar into the game; it was his 130th match for the national team. But another superstar striker became the game-changer.
In the 79th minute, Andreas Scheldrup delivered a pinpoint pass, and Erling Haaland, in his signature style, headed the ball into the corner of the net.
Brazil rushed to equalize, but in the 90th minute, the Norwegian duo repeated the feat: Scheldrup assisted again, and Haaland scored his second goal, putting the game out of reach.
The referee added more than 10 minutes of stoppage time to the second half, and in the 90+10th minute, the “Seleção” was awarded another penalty kick. This time, Neymar stepped up to the spot and neatly sent the ball and the goalkeeper to opposite corners, scoring his milestone 80th goal for the national team. However, the five-time world champions had no time left for a comeback.
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