The last time Norway played, Erling Haaland and Martin Ødegaard sat on the bench and watched France stroll past a Norwegian second string, 4–1. It was a defeat the manager had budgeted for. The place in the Round of 16 was already secure, so Ståle Solbakken rested almost his entire first-choice XI. There's nothing to save for now. In a tie where defeat means going home, the two stars come back — and for Côte d'Ivoire that means facing a completely different Norway from the one France took apart.
The market
Both teams to score: No firm read
Norway came through their group with two wins and a defeat, but the record doesn't tell the whole story. They scored eight goals in three matches — four against Iraq, three against Senegal — yet they also shipped seven and never kept a clean sheet. The heaviest defeat, though, came with a reserve side, so the defensive frailty looks worse on paper than it really is. With Haaland and Ødegaard restored, this is a team that creates chances in bunches.
Côte d'Ivoire took a different road. The reigning African champions — hosts and winners of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations — advanced in second place on grit: 1–0 over Ecuador, with Amad Diallo's 90th-minute winner ending Ecuador's nineteen-game unbeaten run, and 2–0 against Curaçao. In between, they led Germany through a Franck Kessié counter before Deniz Undav came off the bench and turned the game into a 2–1 loss. They kept two clean sheets in three and played to their strength: disciplined, compact, and quick to break. Emerse Faé knows exactly how he wants to approach a stronger side, because he did it against Germany and came within a whisker.
Last three matches
The match comes down to one question: does Côte d'Ivoire's mid-block and counter — the approach that troubled Germany — hold, or do Haaland and Ødegaard force the Ivorians out of shape? Faé sits his side deep, packs the space in front of the box, and waits for the moment to spring the ball forward to Amad Diallo, Simon Adingra and Sébastien Haller. It worked in Toronto. But Norway is a different problem. Where Germany relied on patient build-up, Norway's strength is the direct route: a long ball to Haaland or Alexander Sørloth, with Ødegaard's creativity between the lines. The key is whether Odilon Kossounou and Evan Ndicka can keep Haaland quiet without the back line stretching too far — because the moment it opens, Ødegaard finds the gap. If Côte d'Ivoire ride out the early pressure and stay level for half an hour, their belief in repeating the Germany performance grows. Concede early, and it's a long day in the Texas heat.
Head-to-head
No confirmed previous meeting between the sides could be found.
The pick
Norway simply have too much firepower up front to keep it down over ninety minutes, and with Haaland and Ødegaard back in the XI this is a side that produced eight goals' worth in three matches. Côte d'Ivoire can create from their breaks, but a defence that never kept a clean sheet in the group now meets a disciplined counterattack — goals should come at both ends.
The risk is that Faé gets exactly the game he wants: Côte d'Ivoire sit deep, keep it clean for a long stretch, and nick one on the counter as they did against Ecuador and Germany. If that happens, and Norway lose patience, the match can easily turn tight and low-scoring — and then both the Norway win and the over are in trouble.
For viewers in Iceland, this is a Nordic neighbour to follow from afar. Norway are at their first World Cup since 1998, with Haaland at his first major tournament and Ødegaard wearing the captain's armband — an easy side to get behind from a distance. Kickoff is at 17:00 Iceland time, live on RÚV.