Overview
The Brazilian team will enter the confrontation with Norway in the 1/8 round of the 2026 World Cup with the goal of winning a ticket to the quarterfinals. However, coach Carlo Ancelotti understands that Selecao needs to improve a lot if they want to subdue Erling Haaland and his teammates.
In the previous round, Brazil had to work very hard to defeat Japan 2-1 thanks to a goal in injury time by Gabriel Martinelli. Before that, Casemiro scored the equalizer after Kaishu Sano put the Asian representative ahead.
Bruno Guimaraes continues to be a prominent factor in midfield with an assist to help Martinelli score. The Newcastle midfielder currently has four assists at the 2026 World Cup, only behind Pele's record of six assists at the 1970 World Cup.
However, Brazil's attack has not yet achieved the expected performance. After 4 matches, Selecao only launched an average of 15 shots per match - the second lowest achievement in the team's history at a World Cup, only slightly better than the 1998 tournament.
The positive point is that the quality of Brazil's chances has improved significantly. The expected goal difference (xG) per shot reached 0.16, the highest in the team's history at World Cups.
Brazil also has a very impressive record in the round of 16. They have passed this round nine of the last ten times, the only defeat being against Argentina at the 1990 World Cup.
Meanwhile, Norway is writing a historic story. The 2-1 victory over Ivory Coast in the round of 16 thanks to Haaland's late goal helped the North European team win a knockout match for the first time at the World Cup.
This is the third time Norway has participated in the knockout round of a major tournament. Before the 2026 World Cup, they had lost both knockout matches at the 1938 and 1998 World Cups.
Haaland continues to be Norway's biggest hope when he has scored in 13 consecutive official international matches, with a total of 25 goals. If he continues to score against Brazil, the Manchester City striker will become the first European player since Christian Vieri in 1998 to score in all 4 first matches at a World Cup.
Not only Haaland, Martin Odegaard is also in high form. The Arsenal midfielder assisted Antonio Nusa to score in the previous round and has the opportunity to become the first player in history to assist in all 4 first matches at a World Cup.
However, the defense is still Norway's biggest weakness. After 4 matches, coach Stale Solbakken's team scored 10 goals but also conceded eight. Against Brazil's fast-paced attack with Vinicius Junior and Matheus Cunha, Norway will have to improve significantly if they want to create a surprise.
Head-to-head record
This will be the fifth time Brazil and Norway have faced each other in all competitions, and also the second confrontation between the two teams at the World Cup. The history of confrontations is leaning towards the Northern European representative as Brazil has never defeated Norway.
In the previous four encounters, Norway won two and drew two. Notably, their most recent victory came at the 1998 World Cup with a score of 2-1 in the group stage, creating one of the biggest surprises of that year's tournament.
Score prediction: Brazil 2-3 Norway
The match between Brazil and Norway takes place at 3:00 am on July 6 (Vietnam time).
