Erling Haaland struck in the 86th minute to give Norway a 2-1 victory over Ivory Coast and a place in the World Cup’s round of 16, setting up a meeting with Brazil at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. The Manchester City forward, who had already scored four times in the group stage, admitted he was running on empty. “I was exhausted. I thought, ‘I don’t fancy extra time, so I’d better score,’” he said afterwards. The goal took his tournament tally to five, leaving him joint second in the scoring charts alongside Harry Kane, two behind Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé.

The late intervention was the latest expression of a relaxed approach that has defined Haaland’s tournament. Before a group match against France, he told Fox Sports he did not care much about the opposition, predicting they would probably win the competition. After the Ivory Coast win, he posted images of himself in a cowboy hat and boots, a gesture that, viewed from Buenos Aires, was read as a deliberate rejection of the solemnity that often grips elite sport. Norway’s first World Cup appearance since 1998 has been an emotional ride for the striker, who described it as “moving” and “a journey that makes you want to vomit.” On his shirt, he wears “Braut Haaland,” incorporating his mother’s maiden name in keeping with a Norwegian tradition that the federation formalised in 2025.

As the goals flowed, two off-field narratives gathered pace. In South America, social media erupted over the striking physical resemblance between Haaland and his sister Gabrielle, who was filmed embracing him after the Ivory Coast match. Memes comparing the siblings to twins flooded platforms, with Brazilian users creating AI-generated montages that placed Haaland and Vinícius Júnior in the film White Chicks. Meanwhile, in Norway, a different kind of frenzy was unfolding. Federation president Lise Klaveness wore the national team jersey under her blazer at the match, but thousands of supporters back home were unable to buy one. Oslo sports store manager Anders Lilleberg told TV2 the demand was “the sickest thing I’ve ever seen,” with shelves cleared in minutes. Klaveness called it a “luxury problem” that needed solving.

Norway now face Brazil in the round of 16 on Sunday, with Haaland’s five goals placing him among the tournament’s most prolific finishers. The winner will advance to a quarter-final against either Spain or Morocco, but for a nation reacquainting itself with World Cup knockout football after a 28-year absence, the mere fact of being there has already rewritten the script.