Norway ousts Brazil from World Cup as Neymar hints at retirement

Brazil’s players stood stunned while tears rolled through the Brazilian section of MetLife Stadium after Norway ended the five-time champion’s World Cup with a 2-1 defeat on Sunday night. About 80% of the stands were filled by Brazil fans in East Rutherford, New Jersey, turning the round-of-16 match into something close to a home game before the collapse sent many supporters heading for the exits early.

The loss was Brazil’s earliest World Cup exit since 1990 and it cut short a run that had carried the team to at least the quarterfinals in each of the previous eight tournaments. Erling Haaland scored both goals for Norway, sealing a result that sent the Scandinavian side into the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time in its history. Brazil’s only answer came late, when Neymar converted a penalty for a consolation goal that did little to soften the blow.

Neymar, 34, left the pitch visibly distraught after a night that carried unusual weight for him. He remains Brazil’s all-time leading scorer with 80 goals, but he appeared in only two matches at the 2026 World Cup because of a right calf injury. After the final whistle, he said, “I tried, I tried. Now, it’s over,” a remark that suggested his international career may have ended in the stadium where he made his Brazil debut in August 2010.

Carlo Ancelotti said Brazil needed “new ideas,” called the result a “bitter taste of defeat” and added that the team would need to react correctly and begin a new cycle.