An odyssey ends, belief begins

Stale Solbakken could not hold back the tears.

Norway's World Cup dream had just ended in heartbreaking fashion, a 2-1 extra-time defeat to England in the quarter-finals. Yet as the final whistle echoed around Miami, the emotion on the coach's face spoke less of disappointment than of immense pride.

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"We have been playing at the highest level, and the margins were not in our favour, but that's life. Now we need to breathe a bit," Solbakken said.

For the first time since 1998, Norway had returned to football's biggest stage. They leave North America with more than a quarter-final appearance. They leave having transformed the way a nation sees its football team.

An exhilarating group-stage campaign was followed by a famous last-16 victory over Brazil before they pushed England into extra time in a gripping quarter-final. Andreas Schjelderup's opener threatened another upset, only for Jude Bellingham's brace to end one of the tournament's most captivating journeys.

The result hurt, but it did little to diminish what Norway had achieved.

"We said that we would step up when we got to the World Cup from the fantastic qualifiers, and we've managed to do so," Solbakken said. "We've had fantastic support from all of Norway, and we lived up to the hype. I'm really proud."

That support became one of the defining images of World Cup 2026.

As Erling Haaland's goals grabbed headlines, Norwegian supporters won admirers of their own. Their synchronised "Viking Row" celebration swept through stadiums and across social media, while demand for the national team's red shirt soared as football fever gripped the country.

Even after elimination, the celebrations refused to stop.

The streets in Norway echoed with chants, fireworks lit up the night sky and fans sang of winning the European Championship in two years' time. Brown cheese was passed around the jubilant crowds as strangers embraced, turning what could have been a wake into a celebration.

For Haaland, the tournament felt less like the end of a journey than the beginning of something much bigger.

"This has been my goal for a long time, and I think after this tournament, we've put Norway on the map, so to speak. Now it's about maintaining those standards. I'm incredibly proud," he said.

"We proved that it's possible to beat one of the biggest teams in the world, Brazil. We lost to England in the end, but we made them fight for it. Perhaps it could have gone differently. We've got more World Cups and Euros ahead of us. I think it's time for us to really establish ourselves. We've got a fantastic generation."

History will record that Norway's World Cup ended in the quarter-finals. But history may remember something else. This was the tournament that made Norway believe.