Key events<\/p>\n
46 min: Two subs for Norway<\/a>. Bobb and Schjelderup are on for Nusa and Sorloth. Nusa had been very lively but had given it away quite a bit. I wonder if Norway are looking to become more disciplined in possession.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Leander Schaerlaeckens is at the stadium for us today and has a quick update on his impressions so far:<\/p>\n \u201cA weirdly paced game played on a much cooler afternoon but in absolutely cloaking humidity. It feels like neither team could quite decide how to approach that half, or what they were trying to get out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Half-time emails:<\/p>\n Tim Mason: \u201cNusa has tried cutting in from the left three or four times, failed each time, and each time it\u2019s led to a Brazilian fast break. Maybe Nusa needs a second move.\u201d<\/p>\n Rowan Hooper: \u201cNevermind heavy metal football, I think the men in red should listen to some Norwegian death metal at half time.\u201d<\/p>\n Justin Kavanagh: \u201cIt\u2019s not quite catenaccio, but the Brazilian fans are beginning to get frustrated with their Italian coach\u2019s tactic of soaking up the Norwegian pressure and playing them on the break. It\u2019s becoming Carlo\u2019s Nogo bonito, and they don\u2019t like it.\u201d<\/p>\n Farhan: \u201cThat Martinelli chance was a great one. Needed someone ever so slightly better in the air at the end of it. Too bad Casemiro couldn\u2019t be there since he was the creator in that instance.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n A strange half. Norway<\/a> dominated possession but only created a few chances, and that was towards the end of the half. Brazil sat back and looked happy to try to exploit the frequent Norway turnovers. Their fans didn\u2019t seem happy at the tactics and there were a few whistles from the crowd towards the end of the half. I hear this Ancelotti guy knows what he\u2019s doing though.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Half-time: Brazil 0-0 Norway<\/p>\n Norway had a goal disallowed, Brazil missed a penalty. We go into the break scoreless.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 45 min + 5: Martinelli nearly gets on to a lovely ball from Casemiro but it\u2019s a little too high for him.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 45 min + 3: Haaland causes a bit of panic in the box and Odegaard has time to stop and steady himself before shooting. Alisson sprawls and saves. Odegaard should have done better with the time he was given.<\/p>\n Alisson of Brazil saves a shot taken by Martin Odegaard of Norway. Photograph: Steph Chambers\/FIFA\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a016.54 EDT<\/p>\n 45 min +1: A corner for Norway, wasted again. Fox says Haaland has scored every 14 touches this World Cup<\/a>. Why don\u2019t they just pass it to him 14 times then?<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 45 min: Six minutes of added time.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 44 min: Norway<\/a> are giving the ball away every few minutes. They\u2019re very lucky not to have been punished.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 43 min: Norway<\/a> go back to the 90s and lump it long. Haaland nearly chases it through to create a chance. A few moments later he lays it off to Odegaard, whose shot is blocked for a corner. Nothing comes of it.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 41 min: Brazil sit in possession on the edge of the Norway<\/a> box. Vini is given too much room again but Ryerson recovers. A few moments later Vini twists and turns in the area and Nyland has to pull off a good save to keep the scores level.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 38 min: Haaland tries to hook\/lob it over Alisson but he doesn\u2019t quite get the needed height and arc. Smart play though. He could do well, this kid. \u201cWhy don\u2019t Norway<\/a> do the old cross to the big man and see what he can do? Some intricate plays in possession but no crosses is irritating me to no end,\u201d asks Daniel Wright on email.<\/p>\n Norway’s Erling Braut Haaland tries to lob the keeper. Photograph: Odd Andersen\/AFP\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a016.43 EDT<\/p>\n 36 min: Norway<\/a> are turning it over like Russell Westbrook. Haaland gets a rare touch but \u2026 gives it away. Then Brazil give it away and, on the counter attack, Odegaard smacks the ball into the side netting. If both teams counter-attack is that just an attack?<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 34 min: Brazil<\/a> continue to look scary on the break. Vini dances away from the Norwegian defence but can\u2019t catch up with the ball before it wends its way towards a goal kick.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 31 min: Martinelli races away from his marker and flashes the ball across goal. Nyland gets a boot to it and is very relieved to see it deflect away from the net. That could have gone anywhere.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 29 min: We\u2019re back. A few people have written in to say that the Norwegian defender got a touch on the penalty. Looked stone cold where I was sitting but it doesn\u2019t matter \u2013 they missed anyway. Speaking of which, here\u2019s Martin Gamage. \u201cI genuinely think stutter run up penalties discomfit the taker more than the keeper. Practice your best penalty and take it with a smooth run up. If you get it right, the keeper won\u2019t save it. Which is typically Kane\u2019s technique until he tried that stutter run up against Croatia – off which, of course, he missed.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 28 min: Drinks break. They\u2019ll have sweated a fair bit in this wet bulb extravaganza. Nusa has been a wonderful livewire for Norway<\/a> so far. He doesn\u2019t actually get very far but he\u2019s scampering about with the ball at any opportunity.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 26 min: The Fox broadcast says Bruno Guimaraes is the first Brazilian to miss a World Cup<\/a> penalty since 1986. Yikes.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 25 min: Free-kick to Norway<\/a> to the left of the goal, about 45 yards out. All set up for Odegaard to swing it in but they take the slow approach instead and Brazil win the bacll back. Norway are controlling the possession but they\u2019re turning it over a lot, and Brazil look very dangerous on the counter.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 22 min: Norway have 60% of the possession so far. Maybe 61% after a backpass to the keeper. They already won the Winter Olympics, why not the World Cup<\/a>?<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 20 min: Norway<\/a> were losing possession a little too easily in the early stages of this game and are playing a little slower now. Russell Eberts emails in: \u201cWhen will players learn that the stuttery run up significantly lowers your chances of scoring a penalty (not to mention how silly it looks)? My unofficial reckoning is that only Mbappe has scored with that run up, and there have been about ten misses so far this tournament with it. Get rid of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 18 min: Norway<\/a> know they\u2019ve gotten away with one there. Both teams are charging around, not sure how long that will last in this humidity.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 15 min: No idea why Vini didn\u2019t take that penalty. And why people still take stutter step penalties.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>PENALTY SAVED!<\/p>\n Yep, the referee correctly awards the spot kick. Bruno Guimaraes steps up but \u2013 after a bloody stutter step \u2013 the ball is placed too close to Nyland, who saves.<\/p>\n Norway goalkeeper Oerjan Nyland saves the penalty kick. Photograph: Frank Franklin II\/APNyland celebrates with Alexander Sorloth after making the penalty save. Photograph: Elsa\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a016.20 EDT<\/p>\n Penalty to Brazil?<\/p>\n Cunha is taken out. The ref waves play on but it\u2019s being reviewed.<\/p>\n Norway’s Kristoffer Ajer tackles Brazil’s Matheus Cunha in the penalty area. Photograph: John Sibley\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a016.14 EDT<\/p>\n 10 min: Brazil<\/a> mount their first attack. Vini is given loads of space in the left \u2013 probably not the best player to give space \u2013 but he can\u2019t deliver a cross from the byline before the balls runs out for a goal kick.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 8 min: Back to the offside goal. The Norwegians ripped their opponents on the way to the \u201cgoal\u201d. The Brazilians couldn\u2019t handle their pace and direct play. Still, would have helped if Norway<\/a> had stayed onside.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 6 min: Norway<\/a> are pinging it about like, well, Brazil. They win a corner after some good work by Sorloth. Haaland prowls in the area. Brazil hack the ball away.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 3 min (and a bit): Norway<\/a> have a goal ruled out for offside. Berg has the ball in the back of the net but it\u2019s correctly called offside. Oof, what a start that would have been. It\u2019s still fairly good anyway.<\/p>\n Brazil’s Gabriel Magalhaes can\u2019t stop Norway’s Patrick Berg scoring, but it is disallowed after a VAR review. Photograph: Omar Aziz\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a016.14 EDT<\/p>\n 3 min: Norway<\/a> attacks early and win a throw in close to the Brazil area. Then they decide to work it back into their own half. They\u2019re \u2026 steady?<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 1 min: We\u2019re off. My brother decides to call me: this guy\u2019s timing. Both teams in their familiar kits: Brazil in yellow and Norway<\/a> in red. By the way, Raphinha was warming up earlier and could play some part in the game off the bench after his hamstring troubles.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a016.02 EDT<\/p>\n The anthems. Brazil\u2019s familiar, jaunty anthem is belted out by the swarms of yellow shirts in the stands. It\u2019s followed by the Norwegian anthem, there are fewer Norway<\/a> fans at the MetLife but there still a decent smattering of red. Next: the football!<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.56 EDT<\/p>\n Looks like the White House lobbied for Balogun\u2019s red card to be taken back. Nothing to see here:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The players are in the tunnel and everyone is looking very cheery. Vini and Haaland hug. Haaland hugs a mascot. Two of the mascots hug. Theme of the match so far: hugs.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Imagine escaping the hideous, scarred landscape of the beaches of Rio or the fjords of Norway<\/a> and finally getting to play football among the highways and malls of New Jersey. Its what\u2019s dreams are made of.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Justin Kavanagh on the Balogun red\/non-red: \u201cWhatever the merits or otherwise of the Balogun red card, presidential pardons have no place in football\u201d.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Just a reminder that Gabriel and Haaland should enjoy meeting up again today:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Tim Exton has some thoughts on the Balogun situation.<\/p>\n \u201cLike you, I believe it was a harsh red but I disagree that it needed to stand! That said, there should be an expedited appeals procedure, rather than it being left to the all-too-Fifa-ish behind closed doors reconsideration.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact Trump celebrated it, when the future likes of Balogun would be denied US citizenship, is just the icing on the Corruption Gateaux (sounded more fancy than the alliterative \u2018Cake\u2019)!\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Joakim Nysn\u00f8 writes in. I think maaaaaybe he\u2019s a Norway<\/a> fan:<\/p>\n \u201cI cannot believe how anxiously giddy I am before our match against Brazil \u2013 almost to the point of missing the days when a Norway game was a great excuse to not watch football that evening. Lars Sivertsen\u2019s piece<\/a> really took me back to that euphoric Saint John\u2019s Eve in 1998, being 11 year old and feeling like the whole country roared in unison as \u201cOur Best Men\u201d beat the best team in the world, in what many still consider to be our greatest sporting achievement. (Never mind that Brazil had already secured the top spot in the group and had little to play for.) But the article also reminded me of how alone and isolated I felt when watching that entirely forgettable round-of-16 game against Italy \u2013 our heroes \u201cexposed\u201d as toothless, inferior and, most of all, boring. I\u2019m really proud of the fact that, win or lose, this group of players will not be that. And the fact that there\u2019s a decent chance that they repeat the feat \u2013 this time against a Brazilian team with a point to prove? No matter what, the memories of this night will be happy ones! Heia Norge!<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n By the way, if you\u2019re interested in reading more about Norway\u2019s win against Brazil in 1998, I would highly recommend Lars Siversten\u2019s piece from Friday in this very publication:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Scandinavian Solidarity Department:<\/p>\n \u201cI will be rooting enthusiastically for our Norwegian neighbours while rowing in my armchair,\u201d writes Lars B\u00f8gegaard. \u201cThe Swedes has been to a World Cup-final and reached two semifinals, while we Danes got to the quarterfinals in 1998 losing narrowly 3-2 against \u2026 Brazil. Now it\u2019s Norway\u2019s turn to experience the sheer happiness, I hope.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n So \u2026 anyone want to talk about Folarin Balogun<\/a>? It was an idiotic decision to give him a red card. But once he was suspended, the decision should have stuck. The Belgian FA are rightly fuming, and Gianni knows what they\u2019re going to say if Balogun scores a 90th minute winner. The US were winning some neutrals around, but most of the world outside the States will be cheering on Belgium for now. I imagine there will be some anger among Fifa delegates who already believe richer nations get preferential treatment.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Matt Emerson emails in: \u201cI really hope that Julian Ryerson\u2019s nickname is Ned.\u201d Oh, you mean Needle Nose Ned? Ned the Head? That guy?<\/p>\n JULIAN Ryerson will have his work cut out today. He\u2019ll be dealing with Vini and Martinelli cutting in from the left, and will also be a threat at set-pieces along with Odergaard.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Norway, by the way, have never lost to Brazil. In the four previous matches between these two teams, there have been two Norwegian wins and two draws. The teams have met once in the World Cup<\/a>, when Norway beat Brazil 2-1 in 1998 (caveat: it was the final game of the group stage and Brazil had already qualified).<\/p>\n Norway coach Stale Solbakken played in that 1998 game and is sort of confident they can repeat that result. Maybe. Kind of. Perhaps.<\/p>\n \u201cBrazil are favourites, of course they are, but we are hopeful that we will give them a match, and we are not playing the game for fun \u2013 we are playing to win the game and to reach the quarterfinals,\u201d said Solbakken. \u201cIt\u2019s possible, but it\u2019s very difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n It\u2019s Peter Oh\u2019s music interlude:<\/p>\n \u201cIn the buildup to this match I\u2019ve been listening to Gilberto Gil\u2019s 1998 album O Sol de Oslo – The Sun of Oslo – an eclectic collaboration of Brazilian and Norwegian musicians.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the closing track \u2018Oslodum\u2019 – a nod to the legendary percussion group Olodum in the city of Salvador in Brazil\u2019s northeast – Gil affectionately sings about Norway<\/a> as the terra do bacalhau – the land of cod.<\/p>\n \u201cWho knows how the match will play out. A new hand of God or the land of cod? A goalkeeper howler and the hand of cod? In any case, one team will win and the other will row home, I mean go home. No matter what, the sun will rise again in Oslo tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Weather watch<\/p>\n We\u2019ll have no repeat of the crushing heat of France v Paraguay in Philadelphia yesterday. It\u2019s muggy and overcast here in New York City today (only nine hours from New York\/New Jersey Stadium by public transport!) but significantly cooler than yesterday. I\u2019m not saying I\u2019d want to chase around Vini and Haaland for 90 minutes in this heat (although it would mean I was a professional footballer and incredibly rich) but it\u2019s manageable.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.52 EDT<\/p>\n Teams<\/p>\n Norway and Brazil make one change each. Julian Ryerson is back from injury to slot in at full-back for the Norwegians while the injured Lucas Paqueta is replaced by Gabriel Martinelli for Brazil.<\/p>\n Brazil: Alisson, da Silva Danilo, Marquinhos, Gabriel, Douglas Santos, Rayan, Guimaraes, Casemiro, Martinelli, Cunha, Vinicius Junior. Subs: Weverton, Ederson, Ederson Silva, Alex Sandro, Neymar, Raphinha, Bremer, Leo Pereira, Fabinho, dos Santos Danilo, Endrick, Luiz Henrique, Ibanez, Thiago.<\/p>\n Norway: Nyland, Ryerson, Ajer, Heggem, Wolfe, Odegaard, Berge, Berg, Sorloth, Haaland, Nusa. Subs: Tangvik, Selvik, Thorsby, Ostigard, Larsen, Aursnes, Bjorkan, Thorstvedt, Aasgaard, Schjelderup, Bobb, Hauge, Langas, Falchener.<\/p>\n Referee: Ismail Elfath (USA)<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.05 EDT<\/p>\n Leander Schaerlaeckens is at New York\/New Jersey Stadium for us today and has some crowd news.<\/p>\n \u201cJudging by the crowd filling into the arena here, it\u2019s entirely possible that yellow is the only color that exists,\u201d he writes.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Preamble<\/p>\n Hello! It\u2019s the dark horses v the thoroughbreds today as Norway take on five-time champions Brazil for a place in the quarter-finals. There\u2019s been a growing feeling in the last few days that Brazil are there for the taking \u2013 partly due to Norway\u2019s impressive showings so far (apart from against France, when they rested their best players), Brazil\u2019s fine-not-great finishes at the last two World Cups, THAT semi-final in 2014 and their problems against Japan and Morocco at this tournament. We shall see if those concerns are valid very soon\u2026<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Tom will be here shortly. In the meantime, here\u2019s Graham Ruthven with a short preview of today\u2019s game:<\/p>\n Brazil are far from a perfect team, but Carlo Ancelotti is finding solutions to their problems. The comeback win over Japan in the round of 32 highlighted the quality of a team that was written off by some early in the tournament. This might not be a vintage Brazil<\/a> outfit, but with Ancelotti in charge they have momentum.<\/p>\n Norway also have momentum after seeing off Ivory Coast in the last round. Most encouraging for Stale Solbakken was that Haaland and Martin Odegaard didn\u2019t even play all that way. Instead, the likes of Antonio Nusa and Oscar Bobb stepped up to get Norway<\/a> through. They\u2019re more than just a one (or two) man team.<\/p>\n Player to watch: Vinicius Junior, Brazil – There will be no shortage of star power in New Jersey for this match, but Vinicius could be the most electrifying, and influential, player for either team. If the winger turns up, Brazil could have the edge.<\/p>\n