• Erling Haaland savored the moment after Norway won a knockout game at the World Cup for the first time, a celebration that included a horned helmet atop his head and again sitting on the field with teammates to do the Viking Row in synch with their red-clad fans.
“This is unbelievable. This is history,” Haaland said on the field after the game.
A slight tap from Haaland’s left foot in the 86th minute was the difference as Norway beat Ivory Coast 2-1 on June 30 in Arlington, Texas, setting up another World Cup match against five-time champion Brazil — 28 years after a victory that many consider the greatest ever for the Norwegians.
For now, they prefer to enjoy their latest accomplishment.
“What we’re going to think about now is to enjoy the win today. We’re really happy and proud of ourselves,” said Martin Odeegaard, the team’s captain who banged the drum to set the pace for the postgame row. “Hopefully we can keep dreaming and keep believing and keep performing like we did.”
Antonio Nusa scored the opening goal in the first half with a curling kick for Norway, which in its fourth World Cup will next play in the round of 16 against Brazil on Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
“This is really a dream come true,” Nusa said in translated remarks.
Norway is in its first World Cup since that 1998 appearance, when the team got to the knockout round only after scoring goals in the 83rd and 89th minutes for an incredible 2-1 comeback win over then-reigning World Cup champion Brazil in the group finale.
Amad Diallo, who had prevented Norway from taking a two-goal lead earlier in the second half, evened the match for Ivory Coast with a left-footed kick in the 74th minute.
Even after Haaland’s go-ahead goal, his Norway-record 60th in 53 matches, Ivory Coast kept pressing and had a chance to equalize with a direct free kick by Diallo in the sixth minute of stoppage time. Orjan Nyland made a leaping stop, the last of his four saves, when he deflected the ball away as he extended his left hand across his body.
“After their equalizer, it was easy to panic. But we got our players in the right position and managed to play our game again,” Norway coach Ståle Solbakken said.
Haaland’s 27 touches were the fewest of any Norway player who played the full match, but he was open after three defenders converged when Patrick Berg moved into the penalty area with the ball before making a quick pass. It was a slow roll over the line after coming off the foot of Haaland, who lunged forward as if he might have to kick it again.
It was his Haaland’s fifth goal in three games at this year’s tournament. That is one behind Lionel Messi, who has six for Argentina and scored three of those in two group games at the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.
• Kylian Mbappé put France ahead with a brilliant crossover step in the 45th minute and then added a second-half goal to break a World Cup knockout round scoring record, and Les Bleus beat Sweden, 3-0, on June 30 in East Rutherford, N.J., to set up a round of 16 match against Paraguay.
Bradley Barcola added a 53rd-minute goal for France and Mbappé capped the scoring in the 74th minute for his third two-goal game in four matches. His six goals tied Argentina forward Lionel Messi for the tournament lead and gave him 18 in his World Cup career, one shy of Messi’s record.
Mbappé’s 10 knockout round goals are two more than the previous high by Brazilian greats Leonidas and Ronaldo. France coach Didier Deschamps bowed when his star came to the bench after he was substituted in the 85th minute.
France, the World Cup runner-up four years ago and a tournament favorite this time, has outscored opponents, 13-2, with Michael Olise assisting on five goals.
On a brutally hot afternoon at MeLife Stadium, site of the World Cup final in July 19, France outshot Sweden, 25-7, including, 15-3, in the first half.
Seeking to reach its third straight World Cup final, France plays Paraguay on July 4 in Philadelphia, and the winner advances to a quarterfinal against Canada or Morocco five days later at Foxborough, Massachusetts.