The Texas heat was brutal. The football was better. When the dust settled at the stadium on Tuesday night, Erling Haaland had once again decided a World Cup knockout game, sending Norway through and Ivory Coast home.
Norway will face Brazil in the last 16 on Sunday. Ivory Coast exit on the wrong side of fine margins.
The Vikings restored their big guns after resting them against France, with Haaland, Martin Ødegaard and Antonio Nusa all starting.
Nusa lit the fuse six minutes before halftime, curling a strike from the edge of the box beyond Yahia Fofana to give Norway a 1-0 lead at the break.
Ivory Coast had scored first in all three group games, but this time they were chasing. Coach Emerse Faé made three changes, bringing Ghislain Konan and Emmanuel Agbadou back into defence and starting Christ Inao Oulai instead of Amad Diallo.
It looked like a gamble until the 74th minute. Diallo, introduced as a substitute, collected the ball on the right, dribbled past three Norway players and slotted home to make it 1-1. The stadium erupted as orange shirts bounced. For 12 minutes, Ivory Coast believed.
They had rued missed chances before, but this felt different. Diallo had given them oxygen.
Midway through the second half, Torbjørn Heggem had an effort cleared off the Ivorian goal line — a warning Norway would not waste.
In the 86th minute, they made it count. A low cross caused chaos in the box and Haaland was on hand for a tap-in, his fifth goal of the tournament. Norway led 2-1.
Ivory Coast threw everything forward through Nicolas Pépé, Franck Kessié and Yan Diomande, but Norway held firm. At the final whistle, the Elephants sank to their knees.
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