Erling Haaland scored in the closing minutes to lift Norway to a dramatic 2-1 victory over Ivory Coast in a World Cup round of 32 match Tuesday afternoon in Arlington, Texas.
Haaland, who scored in his third consecutive World Cup match, was held to one shot on goal and three total shots before his breakthrough goal in the 86th minute which was set up on a platter by a pass across the 6-yard box by Patrick Berg.
The deciding goal, which gave Norway their first ever World Cup knockout round win, was the 60th in 53 international appearances for the Manchester City forward. It also moved Haaland alone into second place on the Golden Boot leaderboard, one behind Argentina’s Lionel Messi.
The Vikings will face Brazil in the round of 16 on Sunday at East Rutherford, N.J.
Ivory Coast, making their first World Cup appearance since 2014, came up short in the country’s first-ever knockout stage match.
Antonio Nusa opened the scoring with a 39th minute goal for Norway. Amad Diallo equalized for Ivory Coast in the 74th minute.
Norway didn’t record its first shot on target until the 36th minute. Just a few minutes later, Nusa gave the Vikings a lead with a spectacular curling strike into the upper-corner of the net just inside the far post from the corner of the 18-yard box.
After the sides were level at six shots apiece in the first half, Ivory Coast had more of the ball and more chances in the second half, possessing an 8-3 edge in shots. They didn’t break through, though, until Diallo found the net.
Diallo, subbed on in the 60th minute, had a goal-line block and the equalizing goal in his first 15 minutes on the pitch.
Torbjorn Heggem nearly doubled Norway’s lead on their first second-half shot in the 66th minute. Heggem ran into the box and rocketed a corner kick towards the net, but it was knocked off the goal line by Diallo to keep the game 1-0.
Diallo then capped off a give-and-go build-up with a run into the 6-yard box that he finished with a lofted ball off an assist from Nicolas Pepe.
Les Elephants had multiple chances for a stoppage-time equalizer, most notably on a powerful free kick from close range by Diallo, which Orjan Nyland denied with a diving save.
Nyland finished with four saves. Ivory Coast keeper Yahia Fofana had just one save on three shots on target.
