Haaland's Norway end Ivory Coast's WC journey
by Kickoff Reporter · KickOffIvory Coast were eliminated from the FIFA World Cup after going down 2-1 to Norway in the round of 32 on Tuesday evening.
Fixture: Ivory Coast v Norway
Score: 1-2
Goalscorers: Diallo (74') / Nusa (39'), Haaland (86')
The Elephants and Vikings appeared in the knockout stages for the first time in history, but the latter seek to bounce back from the 4-1 defeat to France whereas the Ivorians eased past debutants Curacao.
In-demand Yan Diomande was given a chance to open his account in the tournament on eight minutes with a header in the box following a ball in by Guela Doue, but the winger snapped his lines and went wide of the mark.
Manchester City ace Erling Haaland came close for the Vikings a little after the hydration break and leaped high in the box to force a save out of goalkeper Yahia Fofana with a header following a cross on the right by strike-partner Alexander Sorloth.
The Vikings pushed to the fore again and were rewarded ten minutes to halftime when Antonio Nusa came on the blind-side in the box, dribbled past one player before curling in the far side of the net.
Second Half:
Nicolas Pepe became a pivotal factor for the Elephants ten minutes in the second half when he managed to get a shot in from close-range following a goal-mouth scramble and asked questions of Orjan Nyland.
With the equalizer not coming despite the intentions midway in the resumption, the Ivorians made a double substitution by introducing Sepe Wahi for Ange-Yoan Bonny before Amad Diallo came in for Christ Inao Oulai.
It heralded a change of note under the closing ten minutes of the encounter as Amad played a one-two on the right with Pepe and nudged in the box from a tight angle to fire into the bottom-corner and levelled it up.
Norway, however, regained ascendancy with five minutes to go when a superb pass by Oscar Bobb released Patrick Berg, who raced clear of the last challenge to get towards the byline and cutback for Haaland to tap into an empty net.
Diallo nearly rescued his outfit again two minutes into stoppage time through a powerful free-kick from outside the box, but Nyland met it spectacularly and send the Vikings to the last 16 to face five-time champions Brazil on Sunday.