Haaland and Mbappe star for Norway and France

Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe find the net as they steer Norway and France respectively to the Last 16 of the FIFA World Cup football championships..

Haaland scored a late winner for Norway while Mbappe struck a brace for France.

Haaland winner saw Norway beat Ivory Coast 2-1 an set up a last-16 showdown with Brazil in Texas on Tuesday.

The Manchester City striker prodded in from close range, the ball dribbling in on 86 minutes for his fifth goal of the tournament. It was the first time that Norway had won a knockout game in the history of the competition.

After an even first half that was slow to get going, Antonio Nusa fired Norway into the lead six minutes before the break with one of the goals of the tournament. Manchester United’s Amad Diallo was sent on for the Ivory Coast after an hour and was immediately in the thick of it, stopping a certain second Norway goal and then grabbing a terrific equaliser on 74 minutes.

With extra time looming, predator supreme Haaland got on the end of a cross by Patrick Berg to make some Norwegian history.

A match between two physical teams was tepid to begin with at the impressive air-conditioned home of the Dallas Cowboys.

Ivory Coast had a sight of goal after 20 minutes, defender Ghislain Konan bursting into the Norway box from the left but finding the side netting.

The Ivory Coast players and fans were irate just before the drinks break when the livewire Yan Diomande was brought down on the break just inside his own half. Referee Jesus Valenzuela surprisingly did not even book defender David Moller Wolfe.

The 19-year-old winger Diomande, who appears set to join European champions Paris Saint-Germain from RB Leipzig, was growing into the game.

The African side, one of the youngest at the tournament, were on top and particularly threatening down Diomande’s left-hand side of the pitch.

Haaland had little to feed on but might have done better with a tame header that bounced into the hands of goalkeeper Yahia Fofana.

Then came a moment of genuine class as Nusa, fed by captain Martin Odegaard, cut inside and bent the ball wonderfully into the top corner.

Odegaard put his hands on his head in disbelief at the strike by the 21-year-old, Diomande’s Leipzig teammate.

Stale Solbakken’s Norway finished the first half on the hunt for a second and Haaland was denied by a last-gasp block by Ibrahim Sangare, who celebrated as if scoring a goal.

The Ivory Coast, into the knockout rounds for the first time, won their 10th corner to start the second half.

Nicolas Pepe was denied by the legs of Norway stopper Orjan Nyland as the Ivory Coast piled on the pressure.

Norway, runners-up to France in the group stage, were inches away from a second when Diallo blocked the ball on the goal line following a corner.

The Norway fans, sensing the next round was close, began their now-famous rowing in the stands.

Almost as soon as they stopped, Diallo danced into the box past two challenges for a spectacular leveller.

Then up popped Haaland to break Ivorian hearts, with goalkeeper Nyland pulling off a flying stop from Diallo’s well-struck free kick at the death to send Norway through.

Mbappe show for France

Kylian Mbappe scored twice and Michael Olise was in scintillating form as France beat Sweden 3-0 and set up a last-16 clash with Paraguay.

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Mbappe finished a superb move to break the deadlock just before half-time in the last-32 tie watched by 80,663 at the New York New Jersey Stadium, after France had already hit the woodwork twice – once through Mbappe and once through Olise.

The French were on top throughout against a limited Swedish side, utterly dominating in terms of possession and shots on goal. Olise set up Paris Saint-Germain winger Bradley Barcola for the second on 53 minutes, and then delivered a delightful pass for Mbappe to complete a convincing victory.

Mbappe’s strikes saw him move level with Lionel Messi on six goals in the all-star Golden Boot race at this FIFA World Cup.

The France captain now has 18 FIFA World Cup goals in total, meaning he is just one behind Messi’s overall record of 19 – a mark which 27-year-old Mbappe will keep chasing.

He celebrated his first goal by running across to embrace head coach Didier Deschamps, who missed France’s final group game against Norway to travel home for his mother’s funeral.

Deschamps will step down at the end of the competition after 14 highly successful years in charge.

Mbappe and Olise were again central figures, with Ousmane Dembele also showing flashes of his brilliance while Barcola was preferred to Desire Doue as the fourth forward.

Sweden have quality in attack too, with the Premier League trio of Viktor Gyokeres, Alexander Isak and Anthony Elanga. But they couldn’t get enough of the ball to create chances and Graham Potter’s team now go home.

Getting this far should really be seen as a success for them, however, after they only made it to North America through the back door of the playoffs.

Olise released Mbappe through the middle to put the ball in the net in the 20th minute, only for a tight offside call to cut short the celebrations.

However, that sparked an intense spell of French pressure which eventually resulted in the opening goal.

Some of their football was mesmerising, as Mbappe hit the post from a Jules Kounde ball across the face of goal and Adrien Rabiot fired narrowly over.

Olise then struck an upright with a breathtaking overhead bicycle kick before Dembele put the rebound wide.

The opener came right on half-time, after an Olise effort was tipped behind by Swedish ‘keeper Jacob Widell Zetterstrom.

Dembele and Olise combined at the resulting corner before finding Mbappe, and he did the rest.

Sweden needed the interval to regroup, but they conceded again eight minutes after the restart as the magical Olise threaded a pass through the legs of Gustaf Lagerbielke for Barcola, who lashed in.

Olise couldn’t score when clean through, but soon after he delivered an exceptional assist for Mbappe to curl in again on 74 minutes.

France look untouchable even if the toughest tests are still to come, although Paraguay will find it hard to live with them.