Norway achieved a historic achievement by qualifying for the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup for the first time in its history, after beating Brazil 2-0, in the match that brought them together in the round of 16 competitions.
The Norwegian national team withstood Brazilian pressure for most of the match, benefiting from the brilliance of goalkeeper Jurgen Nyland, who played a crucial role in keeping a clean sheet.
Brazil wasted a golden opportunity to open the scoring in the 15th minute, after Neyland saved Bruno Guimaraes' penalty, which was awarded after Christopher Ayer tackled Matheus Cunha after reviewing the VAR technique.
Goalkeeper Neyland shines
Brazil's attempts continued in the second half, but the Norwegian defence and goalkeeper Neyland continued to shine, while substitute Endrick squandered a chance less than a minute after entering the pitch.
The decisive moment came in the 79th minute, when substitute Andreas Schilderup started from the left side after a distinctive collective attack, before sending an elaborate cross that Erling Haaland rose to, to turn it with his head into the net, announcing Norway's progress.
In stoppage time, Haaland added the second goal, after firing a ball that passed between the legs of defender Danilo and goalkeeper Alisson was unable to save, taking his tally to 7 goals in the tournament.
In the 90+7th minute, Brazil received a penalty kick that Neymar da Silva translated into a goal to reduce the difference, but the Seleção did not have time to get back into the result, and the match ended with Norway winning by two goals to one.
With this result, Brazil bid farewell to the tournament from the round of 16, in its first exit from this round since 1990, while the Norwegian team, led by coach Stole Solbaken, will face the winner of the next round of the match against Mexico and England, in a match to be held in Miami on July 11.
In 5 meetings between the two teams, including two World Cup matches, Norway has won 3 times, winning the World Cup 2-1 in the group stage of the 1998 edition and 2-1 in 2026.
On the friendly level, Norway won 4-2 in a friendly in May 1997, while the two teams drew 1-1 twice, once in 1988 and the other in 2006.
European curse continues to haunt Brazil
Brazil's struggles against European teams in the World Cup have continued since their last crown 24 years ago, against Germany in Korea and Japan in 2002.
Brazil have been knocked out of the World Cup by a European team in the last six editions of the tournament, from 2006 in Germany to the current edition in 2026 in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Brazil lost to France 1-0 in the 2006 edition, then lost to the Netherlands 2-1 in the 2010 edition of South Africa, and in the 2014 edition, they lost to Germany at the Maracanã Stadium by a score of 7-1.
In Russia in 2018, the Seleção bid farewell to the World Cup again against a European team, losing to Belgium by a score of 2-1, and in Qatar 2022, the samba dancers bid farewell to a new European team, losing to Croatia by a score of 4-2 on penalties, and finally in the current edition, the Brazil team bid farewell to the World Cup by losing to a new European team, Norway, by a score of 2-1.
This year's tournament saw a negative figure for Brazil, as it recorded its first exit from the round of 16 since 1990, when the tournament was eliminated by Argentina from the round of 16, and Brazil had reached at least the quarter-finals in each of the last 8 editions before this edition.
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