Month: July 2026

Surprised? Then you haven’t been paying attention. Norway just beat Brazil, 2-1, to reach its first-ever quarterfinal, and the wildest part is that it wasn’t even a smash-and-grab. Norway had nearly 70% possession. Norway controlled the tempo. Norway had Erling Haaland, the only superstar who showed up today. Brazil had 34% possession, a missed penalty, a missed sitter, and now a very long flight home. The five-time champions are out in the round of 16. Sit with that. Then remember Norway has never — not once, not ever — lost to Brazil. Four games before tonight, zero defeats. Make it five. Here are my four takeaways from a night Norwegian football will never forget: 1. Brazil Crash Out. And Honestly? It Earned It. Let’s cut to the chase and say the truth. Carlo Ancelotti’s team simply wasn’t good enough. It lost its aura. The “jogo bonito” is long gone. Brazil set up like a provincial — read that again, Brazil, at a World Cup, barely touching the ball — and there was zero swagger in its play, zero Brazilian identity, zero of anything that makes that legendary yellow shirt mean something. Just a gray, joyless side waiting to counter. And when the moments came, the finishing was criminal. Ørjan Nyland saved Bruno Guimarães’s first-half penalty. Then Endrick, played clean through by Vinícius Júnior, produced a first touch so heavy it needed its own boarding pass and poked the sitter wide. Endrick perhaps showed why Ancelotti was so reluctant to use him in this tournament. That’s the game, right there. Neymar’s stoppage-time penalty was useless, and the trash-talking between him and Nyland before and after the penalty was quite frankly an embarrassment for the former superstar now in the twilight of his career. Brazil will miss the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time in 36 years. On this evidence, nobody should be shocked. 2. My Dark Horse Delivered. You Were Warned. I called Norway my favorite dark horse before this tournament, and nights like this are exactly why. This wasn’t luck. Norway stepped onto the field with the clear intention of dominating from the opening whistle. They pressed them ferociously, and dictated the tempo like a giant of the game. Martin Ødegaard ran the game. Patrick Berg even had a curler chalked off for offside. Brazil chased shadows in their own round of 16. If you watched qualifying, none of this is new. Norway went a perfect eight-for-eight, scored 37, conceded five, and beat Italy twice — including 4-1 at the San Siro. Haaland scored 16 times in eight qualifiers. Brazil? The worst qualifying campaign in their history. Fifth place, six defeats, humiliated 4-1 in Buenos Aires, three managers deep before Ancelotti. One team arrived in form. It just wasn’t the one in yellow. 3. The Ramifications For Brazil Are Seismic. The historic weight of this result is hard to overstate. Brazil, out before the quarterfinals for the first time since 1990. The wait for a sixth star now stretches beyond 2002 into a sixth straight World Cup — territory this nation has never known. Tactically, Ancelotti got it wrong. He surrendered midfield to Ødegaard and company, turned Brazil into a Catenaccio (tactically defensive door-bolt) side, and asked an aging spine — Casemiro, Danilo, Marquinhos, all thirtysomethings — to survive Norway’s press. Japan exposed those legs a week ago. Norway buried them. But let’s be honest: This was bigger than one game plan. This Brazilian team is flawed at its core — old in the wrong places, timid in possession and toothless in the box. The flaws that flickered in qualifying and against Japan showed up at the worst possible moment, in the biggest game. Flawed teams don’t survive knockout football. Brazil didn’t either. 4. One Superstar Showed Up. His Name Is Erling Haaland. Vinícius Júnior versus Erling Haaland was the billing. Only one of them answered. As Zlatan Ibrahimović said on air: Haaland needs one touch to score one goal. He got two, he scored two. A towering header in the 79th minute to break Brazil, then a thunderbolt from the top of the box in the 90th that Alisson Becker could only wave at. A brace, seven goals in the tournament, level with Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé in the Golden Boot race, and the single greatest result in the history of Norwegian football delivered on his back. And spare a roar for Ørjan Nyland, who was magnificent again — the penalty save from Guimarães, a string of stops on Rayan and Bruno Guimarães, and one absurd backwards fingertip claw off his own post. Norway is in the quarterfinals for the first time ever. England or Mexico await in Miami. Believe it now?​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

All eyes are on the USA on Monday night in Seattle with one position that will be everyone’s focus. Star striker Folarin Balogun being available for the United States is obviously a massive storyline. Ricardo Pepi — the presumptive replacement as the striker — is a different player, albeit one who’s very capable. It’s still a boost for the USA to have Balogun available. Let’s break down the matchup. The obvious storyline for the USA lineup entering this game was Balogun’s absence and Ricardo Pepi likely replacing him as the starting striker. Overall, there’s a clear starting lineup that’s preferred by head coach Mauricio Pochettino, so he’ll likely stick with Balogun starting for the U.S. ahead of a massive game. But maybe Pepi sees some action too. With Pepi, though, you would get someone who works hard defensively and is a very good presser of the opposing defense further up the field. Balogun is probably a bit more of a threat with his runs behind opposing defenses, while Pepi is not known for his speed to get in behind the back line. Pepi is still lethal in the 18-yard box, where it’s less about making runs behind defenses, using speed or tricky dribbling to get a shot off. While Balogun can use his speed to make things happen, Pepi finds the right positions and has very good technique when finishing. USA Player To Watch I think the focus of this game will be on Christian. It will be crucial for him to create moments throughout the entire attack. I think he’s going to be the guy who makes everything tick going forward. I don’t expect us to have loads of time on the ball to pick a pass in this game. I see success in this one against Belgium coming from wide position and getting the ball into the box with late runners, whether it’s Balogun or Weston McKennie making a run, Sergiño coming in on the weak side or Malik Tillman near the top of the box. Any good moments for us in attack are likely to come from Christian on the left wing, getting in attacking positions and then picking his spots to make a key pass with players crashing in to attack it. Belgium has a right to be frustrated, but on the other hand, it’s not like it won’t have time to change the game plan. For me, it won’t make a massive difference in terms of preparation. All you have to do is look at clips of the opponent, and you’ll quickly recognize the differences between Pepi and Balogun, which are pretty straightforward. I don’t think Belgium should try to make this a distraction from the preparation it’s in the middle of right now. It needs to focus on itself and how it’s going to best prepare the team, without getting drawn into the drama that’s unfolding in front of our eyes with this news. Belgium will definitely have the most quality of any team that we’ve faced so far. It will be the toughest challenge in terms of an opponent that can keep possession and have talent around the field. That shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. It’s a lot of the old guard that has thrived over the past decade-plus. Thibaut Courtois is still in goal with Kevin De Bruyne in midfield and Romelu Lukaku leading the attack. If you look at Belgium’s games in this tournament already, though, it’s not dominating the ball. For example, Egypt had 46% possession against the Red Devils in the group stage. With that, I’d expect close to a 50-50 split on Sunday in Seattle. Belgium Player To Watch Even though he came off in the 56th minute against Senegal in the round of 32, it’s still Doku. De Bruyne is getting older, but his mobility was never his biggest threat. That’s his passing ability. Doku brings a big challenge with his pace and dribbling, one that was on display when these teams faced off back in March in a friendly. Alex Freeman is going to have another good performance on the right side of the USA’s defense to contain the Manchester City winger.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports