Erling Haaland scored twice against Brazil at MetLife Stadium on Sunday evening, and Norway walked away with a 2-1 win that sent them into the World Cup quarterfinals. The result turned on a familiar finish from a striker who had spent most of the night on the edge of the game, then decided it anyway.
That is why Nyland is being searched now: Norway’s victory was not a routine step forward, but the sort of win that carries a team into the last eight and leaves one player at the center of it. Haaland, who has now scored his sixth and seventh goals at this tournament, said he had dreamed of taking Norway to the World Cup but could not have dreamt of beating Brazil. He added that he needed to pinch himself sometimes.
Andreas Schjelderup was the man supplying the passes that made it happen. He assisted both of Haaland’s goals and said he was lost for words, adding that everyone was lost for words. Schjelderup’s numbers only sharpen the picture: he now has 61 assists for Norway in 54 appearances, and this was the kind of night that made those figures feel almost secondary to the impact of the two passes that unlocked Brazil.
For most of the match, though, Brazil and Gabriel had done the hard part of keeping Haaland out of the game. He had touched the ball only 19 times before the 79th minute, and Alisson made one straightforward stop from him. Even so, Norway’s No 9 found a way through. In the 90th minute, he threaded the ball through Danilo’s legs for his second goal, a finish that summed up a night in which he was limited, watched, and still decisive.
The club comparisons are unavoidable, because this felt like the same sort of duel Haaland has had in the Premier League for Manchester City against Arsenal, only with a World Cup place on the line. Norway advanced, Brazil went out, and the player who had been held quiet for 79 minutes ended the match with two goals and the quarterfinal berth in his hands.
