Erling Haaland scores twice to beat Brazil, send Norway into World Cup quarterfinals for 1st time

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Erling Haaland scored, and Andreas Schjelderup jumped on his teammate’s back. Haaland scored again, and Schjelderup leapt up again.

Heading in the go-ahead goal in the 80th minute and scoring again before the end of regulation time, Haaland put Norway on his back and carried it into the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time with a 2-1 defeat of Brazil on Sunday that showcased the towering striker on soccer’s biggest stage.

“Maybe this will write history in Norway,” Haaland said. “Everyone just need to enjoy themselves. This is just an insane day. It’s one of the most insane days in Norwegian history. Just enjoy it, embrace it and enjoy the moment.”

After being a nonfactor for much of the afternoon and having limited touches, Haaland spoke at the second-half hydration break with coach Ståle Solbakken, who told him to drain his energy and go for it.

Haaland turned it on when it mattered most, getting the right side of his head on the ball after a perfect setup by Andreas Schjelderup, who entered at halftime. Haaland scored 10 minutes later for his seventh of the tournament, tying Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé of France in the race for the Golden Boot.

“It felt it was a gift from God that it actually went into the net,” Haaland said after scoring in a 14th consecutive competitive match internationally. He has 27 in that stretch and 62 in 54 with Norway.

At the other end, goalkeeper Ørjan Nyland was stellar. He made a crucial stop early, diving to his left to deny Bruno Guimarães’ penalty kick in the 14th minute, then got his left hand on a shot by Endrick late when Norway was hanging on to a one-goal lead.

The only goal Nyland allowed was to Neymar on a penalty kick late in stoppage time, which changed just the final score.

Nyland, who at 35 is his team’s oldest player, was a huge factor in a historic victory that ranks among the most significant in the country’s history — at least on the men’s side. Norway’s women’s team won the World Cup in 1995, but the men have only qualified four times and not since 1998. They had not gone further than the round of 16.

“I think that all Norwegian citizens are experiencing the night of a lifetime,” Solbakken said. “Some people say that we have changed Norway forever. Probably, they will party for a week or so.”

Norway next faces the winner of the Mexico-England round-of-16 game on Saturday in Miami Gardens, Florida. Solbakken said he had more than a dozen friends already book travel to South Florida.

Guimarães became the first Brazil player not to score on a World Cup penalty kick since Zico in 1986. The decision to have him take it instead of star Vinícius Júnior brought immediate second-guessing and may be questioned and criticized for quite some time.

There were plenty of other missed opportunities, including Casemiro missing Neymar on a crossing attempt on what could have been the tying goal.

“We really fell short in the opportunities that we did create,” captain Marquinhos said. “We had a penalty kick, we had some other chances as well, but here’s the World Cup for you. Those that make the least mistakes are able to move forward to the next round, and to be victorious.”

Brazil goes home having massively underachieved expectations set pretty much at win or bust for the five-time World Cup champions. The global powerhouse had its streak of quarterfinal appearances at the tournament end at eight, losing before that stage for the first time since 1990.

It was Brazil’s seventh consecutive loss to European opponents in the knockout round at the World Cup, dating to beating Germany in the 2002 final. The absence of injured midfielder Lucas Paquetá did not help, even though Gabriel Martinelli showed off his speed at times after being coach Carlo Ancelotti’s choice to go into the starting lineup.

Norway got defender Julian Ryerson back from his injury that sidelined him the past two games, and Solbakken was rewarded for making changes at halftime by Schjelderup setting up each of Haaland’s goals.

“During the game, you have to take the calls decisions that you feel are appropriate,” Solbakken said. “It’s a gut feeling that Oscar (Bobb) and Andreas might make a difference, and I felt more secure with them on the pitch the way I wanted us to play the second half, and then you saw what happened.”

Those moves played a role in the upset, though this one was not nearly as massive as the group stage in 1998. Norway showed how much it had evolved as a soccer nation since then, with knocking off Brazil the latest step in that process.

Yellow-clad Seleção fans outnumbered those in Norway red, many of whom did the now-famous Viking Row in the stands — with Brazil supporters even cheering it before kickoff. Brazil’s fans were stunned silent when it returned after the game, with Haaland banging the drum and leading the celebration.

“I’ve peaked a couple of times during this tournament, but this was a new peak,” Haaland said.

Also in the sellout crowd of 80,663 were rapper Jay-Z, comedian Chris Rock, actor Woody Harrelson, actress Sofía Vergara and basketball player Jalen Brunson of the NBA-champion New York Knicks, who elicited a healthy roar when he was shown on video screens.

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Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press