Brazil's World Cup Dreams Shattered by Norway
Brazil's 2026 FIFA World Cup journey came to a close on Sunday, courtesy of a 2-1 defeat to Norway at New York New Jersey Stadium, with superstar Erling Haaland scoring a brace to propel his team forward.
Haaland opened the scoring in the 11th minute, heading in a cross from Andreas Schjelderup, before sealing the win with his second goal in the 90th minute, marking his first non-one-touch finish of the tournament.
With seven goals to his name, Haaland now sits atop the Golden Boot leaderboard, tied with Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi, after scoring his first goal of the tournament that wasn't on a one-touch finish; the other six were.
Brazil managed to find the back of the net in stoppage time through a penalty from Neymar, who came on as a substitute in the 67th minute and scored what is likely to be his final World Cup goal.
Despite creating several scoring opportunities, Brazil was unable to level the score, thanks in large part to Norway goalkeeper Ørjan Nyland's heroic performance, which included four saves, including a crucial penalty save against Bruno Guimarães in the 13th minute.
Norway's historic victory marks their first-ever advancement to the World Cup quarterfinals, where they will face the winner of the Mexico vs. England match.
This early elimination for Brazil is their earliest since the 1990 World Cup in Italy, and the team has not beaten a European side in a knockout game since their 2002 World Cup final victory over Germany.
