Haaland sends Norway to World Cup quarterfinals as Mexico faces England

Erling Haaland scored twice in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and sent Norway past Brazil 2-1 into its first World Cup quarterfinals. In Oslo, thousands of supporters gathered in front of the Royal Palace, while Mexico City was already being pulled into the same tournament web as England prepared for a round-of-16 match later in the day.

FIFA had scheduled Mexico against England for Sunday at 6 p.m. local time at Mexico City Stadium, with the winner set to meet Norway or Brazil in Miami. The governing body also warned that the game could be moved up by six hours because of forecasts for thunderstorms and heavy rain in Ciudad de México. That warning carried extra weight after Mexico’s round-of-16 match against Ecuador on June 30 at Estadio Azteca was delayed an hour by storms.

Mexico entered the match with nine points from three group games and was chasing a place in the quarterfinals for the first time since 1986. England returned to Mexico City with its most painful memory of that World Cup still attached to the city, the 1986 defeat to Argentina and Diego Maradona’s handball goal. Harry Kane had scored five goals in the tournament, and Jude Bellingham had been one of the central figures in midfield as Thomas Tuchel’s side arrived with a direct route to Miami still open.

Mexican supporters staged a nocturnal serenade outside England’s hotel, filling the street with music, drums, trumpets, horns and fireworks.

Norway’s breakthrough carried a similar street-level energy on the other side of the Atlantic. Haaland’s go-ahead header in the 79th minute and his second goal closed out Brazil and ended a 28-year absence from the World Cup, after a run through the group stage that included wins over Iraq, Senegal and Ivory Coast and only one defeat, to France. In Houston, more than 500,000 people had passed through World Cup events, and the Fan Festival was operating at full capacity in the days before.