FIFA World Cup 2026 | A physical battle beckons as a well-rested Norway takes on a robust Ivory Coast

Sport always rewards those willing to wait. For some nations, reaching the World Cup knockout rounds is an expectation. For others, it is the culmination of decades of longing, setbacks and near misses. On Tuesday in Dallas, two such countries will lock horns to advance to the round of 16.

Norway has returned to the World Cup after a 28-year absence and has immediately justified the expectation surrounding one of its most gifted generations. Ivory Coast, meanwhile, has reached the knockout stage for the first time in its history, completing another landmark in the remarkable revival overseen by Emerse Fae.

The Elephants sealed qualification with an assured 2-0 victory over Curacao in Philadelphia, where Nicolas Pepe scored twice to secure second place in Group E.

Standing in its way is a Norwegian side that deliberately rested several key players during a 1-4 defeat to France, ensuring Erling Haaland, Martin Odegaard, Antonio Nusa and Julian Ryerson are fresh for the round-of-32 clash.

Coach Stale Solbakken believes that decision could prove decisive. “Their team is very good, but we are a good team when we play to our best,” he said. “We have cancelled out their one extra day of rest by making changes for the France match… so now, we should be on equal terms physically, which I see as one of their biggest strengths.”

That physical edge has become one of Ivory Coast’s defining traits, particularly through central defenders Ousmane Diomande and Odilon Kossounou, who now face arguably the tournament’s most feared striker.

Haaland has scored four goals in his first two World Cup appearances and with Odegaard orchestrating attacks and Alexander Sorloth expected to return alongside him, Norway possesses enough firepower.

Ivory Coast, too, has its own attacking stars. Pepe’s brace against Curacao made him only the second Ivorian to score twice in a World Cup match, two decades after Aruna Dindane had achieved the feat against Serbia. Alongside him, 19-year-old Yan Diomande has emerged as one of the tournament’s revelations. The RB Leipzig winger has completed 10 dribbles and created 10 chances during the group stage.

This will be Norway’s third World Cup knockout match, having lost both previous appearances in 1938 and 1998. Ivory Coast, meanwhile, is attempting to become only the third African nation to win its first-ever men’s World Cup knockout match after Cameroon in 1990 and Senegal in 2002.

The reward for the winner will be a clash with Brazil or Japan in the round of 16.

For Norway, this generation is expected to earn the nation a place among football’s elite, while for the Ivory Coast, every step has already become the greatest chapter in its World Cup history.