Ivory Coast 2-1 Norway Player Ratings: Haaland Wins It Late For The Vikings To Seal Norway's Third Round of 16 Qualification In World Cup History

The Vikings of Norway took on Ivory Coast in a Round of 32 fixture of the FIFA World Cup 2026 at the Dallas Stadium. This was the first time that the two teams were facing each other in an official competition, and the stakes were higher than usual as a qualification to the Round of 16 was on the line.

The Ivory Coast national football team started brilliantly in the first half, and were slightly the better of the two sides. They did penetrate the Norwegian defense quite a few times, but just couldn't find the finishing touch that mattered the most.

Efforts from Ghislain Konan and Nicolas Pépé fell just short of putting Les Éléphants in the lead, but the Norway national football team didn't fail. Antonio Nusa danced past a few defenders in the penalty box after receiving a pass from Arsenal midfielder Martin Odegaard and unleashed a beautiful curler which found the left top corner in the 39th minute, leaving Yahia Fofana helpless.

One of the best strikers in the world currently, Erling Haaland, and Atletico Madrid forward Alexander Sorloth, came close to doubling the lead, but they, too, missed their lines.

The second half saw more end-to-end stuff, with both teams pushing for a goal. The Ivorians looked better on the ball and while going forward, but Norway were not ready to give up so easily. They came close once again as Sorloth headed Odegaard's corner towards Torbjørn Heggem, whose powerful strike was cleared off the line by Amad Diallo.

The Manchester United winger grabbed the headlines once again as he played a neat one-two with Pepe, before dribbling past two defenders to finish it exquisitely to level things up for Ivory Coast in the 74th minute.

However, the Norwegians had the last laugh as Patrick Berg received a smooth through pass from Oscar Bobb, before making a run into the box, drawing two defenders with him, and cleverly finding Haaland, who was in acres of space, and the Manchester City forward tapped it home from close range, sending the Norway fans into a frenzy.

With this win, Norway reached the Round of 16 of the global gathering event for just the third time, the last one being in 1998. On the other hand, Ivory Coast had to bow out despite a humongous fight.

Check out the Ivory Coast vs Norway Player Ratings.

Ivory Coast National Football Team Player Ratings vs Norway

Take a look at the Ivory Coast national football team player ratings from the Ivory Coast vs Norway Player Ratings.

Norway National Football Team Player Ratings vs Ivory Coast

Here are the Norway national football team player ratings from the Ivory Coast vs Norway Player Ratings.

Man of the Match

Patrick Berg was adjudged Sportsdunia's man of the match in Ivory Coast vs Norway.

Worst Performer

Ange-Yoan Bonny was the worst performer in this FIFA World Cup Round of 32 fixture.