🇳🇴 Norway's World Cup story.

The story · Quarter-finals

Back at the World Cup for the first time since 1998, Norway began by beating Iraq 4-1 and Senegal 3-2, securing qualification after two matches. With several starters rested, it lost 4-1 to France and finished second in Group I. Norway eliminated Côte d’Ivoire 2-1 in the round of 32. In the round of 16, it produced one of the tournament’s major shocks by beating Brazil 2-1. Its quarter-final against England began ideally with an early Andreas Schjelderup goal. Jude Bellingham equalized before halftime and scored again in extra time for a 2-1 Norwegian defeat. Coach Ståle Solbakken, a player at the 1998 World Cup, finished in tears but proud. The run generated national fever: demand for red shirts became so high that the country ran out of them. Norway won four matches, eliminated Brazil and pushed England beyond 90 minutes. It also showed enough depth to advance without every result depending exclusively on Erling Haaland.

From the tournament notebook

The enthusiasm at home became so intense that the national team’s red home shirts sold out.

Sources ↗

Reporting through 2026-07-15