New Jersey: Erling Haaland headed home the go-ahead goal in the 80th minute and scored again before the end of regulation time, carrying Norway into the FIFA World Cup quarterfinals for the first time with a 2-1 victory over Brazil on Sunday that showcased the towering striker on football's biggest stage.
After being largely ineffective for much of the afternoon and having limited touches, Haaland came alive when it mattered most, getting the right side of his head to the ball after a perfect setup by Andreas Schjelderup, who came on at halftime.
Schjelderup jumped on Haaland's back to celebrate the 6-foot-5 striker scoring his sixth goal of the World Cup and did so again after assisting his seventh, tying Argentina's Lionel Messi and France's Kylian Mbappé for the most goals in the tournament.
Haaland extended his streak of scoring in international competition to 14 consecutive matches. He has scored 27 goals during that stretch and has 62 goals in 54 appearances for Norway.
At the other end, goalkeeper Ørjan Nyland was outstanding. He made a crucial save early, diving to his left to deny Bruno Guimarães' penalty in the 14th minute, and later got his left hand to Endrick's shot when Norway was protecting a one-goal lead.
The only goal Nyland conceded came from Neymar's penalty deep into stoppage time, which only altered the final scoreline.
Nyland, who at 35 is Norway's oldest player, played a pivotal role in a historic victory that ranks among the most significant in the country's football history.
Norway's women's team won the World Cup in 1995, but the men's team had qualified only four times before this tournament and had not reached the World Cup since 1998. Their previous best finish was the Round of 16.
Norway will next face the winner of the Mexico-England Round of 16 match in Miami Gardens, Florida.
Guimarães became the first Brazil player to miss a World Cup penalty since Zico in 1986. The decision to let him take the spot-kick instead of star forward Vinícius Júnior immediately drew scrutiny and is likely to remain a talking point.
Brazil squandered several other opportunities, including Casemiro failing to find Neymar with a cross that could have produced the equaliser.
The five-time world champions bowed out after falling well short of expectations. Brazil's streak of reaching the World Cup quarterfinals ended at eight consecutive tournaments, with the team failing to reach the last eight for the first time since 1990.
It was also Brazil's seventh consecutive World Cup defeat against European opposition, dating back to its victory over Germany in the 2002 final. The absence of injured midfielder Lucas Paquetá proved costly, although Gabriel Martinelli displayed flashes of pace after being handed a starting role by coach Carlo Ancelotti.
Norway welcomed back defender Julian Ryerson after he missed the previous two matches through injury, and coach Ståle Solbakken's halftime substitutions paid off as Schjelderup assisted both of Haaland's goals.
Those tactical changes proved decisive in one of the biggest upsets of the tournament, though not quite on the scale of Norway's famous group-stage victory over Brazil in 1998. Sunday's win nevertheless highlighted the nation's progress on the world stage.
Brazil's yellow-clad supporters vastly outnumbered Norway fans dressed in red. Many Norwegian supporters performed the now-famous Viking Row celebration in the stands, with even Brazilian fans cheering it before kickoff. After the final whistle, however, Brazil's supporters were left stunned into silence.
The sellout crowd of 80,663 also included rapper Jay-Z, comedian Chris Rock, actor Woody Harrelson, actress Sofía Vergara and New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson, who received a loud ovation when shown on the stadium's video screens.
