The Ivory Coast and Norway define this Tuesday (30), at 2 pm, who will face Brazil in the round of 16, which eliminated Japan in the 2026 World Cup.
The duel pits one of the worst defenses among the classified teams (Norway, with seven goals conceded in the group stage) against one of the best (Ivory Coast, with 2).
Despite this, the match should be one of the most competitive in the 32-team phase, the first knockout stage of the first World Cup with 48 teams.
In the last match of the group stage, Ivory Coast beat Curaçao 2-0, scored 6 points and finished second in Group E, advancing to the knockout stage of the World Cup for the first time.
Comfortable in second place in Group I, Norway used the reserve team in the last round of the first phase to face France, who did not spare any starters and thrashed their rivals 4-1.
This Tuesday, against Ivory Coast, Norway enters with the full team, including the team’s top scorer in the tournament, Erling Haaland, from Manchester City, with 4 goals.
After the defeat against France, the Norwegian coach, Stale Solbakken, defended his decision to select the reserves — he only regretted it for the fans, who were expecting to see their idol Haaland play in Boston.
“I don’t regret anything. Quite the opposite. I take 100% responsibility for the decisions I made”, said the coach in an interview on Saturday (27).
Ivory Coast’s hope against Norway rests with 19-year-old Yan Diomandé.
Voted the best player in his team’s 1-0 victory against Ecuador, in the first phase, Diomandé plays for RB Leipzig (Germany) and is currently negotiating with Paris Saint-Germain, the current two-time champion of the Champions League.
At the beginning of the World Cup, the Ivorian published a text in honor of Roxane, his sister, who died at the age of 15, on the website The Players’ Tribune.
Roxane believed he would become the best player in the world. Diomandé wrote: “I will prove you right, or I will die trying.”
