Norway vs. Brazil World Cup Showdown: Fan Passion, Kit Demand, and Historical Echoes

This is definitely a pro-Brazil crowd, lots of yellow all around the stadium, and a BRAZIL, BRAZIL chant echoes through the stands.

The supporters near me unfurl a huge Pele flag, and I saw a fan with the classic Ronaldo haircut circa ‘02.

That is a bold move and funnily enough not the first one I’ve seen either.

And they LOVE it as the penalty is awarded!

Alexander Sørloth does really well and wins a corner down the right now.

This is a great opportunity for Norway to bring its giant defenders forward.

The ball is swept in but the referee tells them to take it again and has a long chat with the Brazil defenders, telling them to stop holding the Norwegian attackers.

The corner is allowed to be taken and Brazil clears.

The Brazilians have barely had a sniff of the ball yet.

BUT THE FLAG IS UP!

It's a lovely move, a really superb move from Norway, releasing Alexander Sørloth down the right.

The right winger was just offside but didn't know that, cutting the ball back for Sander Berge to crash the ball into the top corner.

It would have been a superb start — but instead it's just a warning.

Norway has been better on the ball in these early exchanges.

While the what was oppressive in Philadelphia yesterday, it’s a more respectable 30 degrees and overcast at New York New Jersey Stadium.

It still feels steamy and not entirely comfortable conditions for playing but certainly better than yesterday!

I’m near a large section of Brazil fans bringing excellent energy, all waving flags and dreaming of a first title since 2002.

There are a couple of big blocks of red filled with Norway fans too.

There appears to be a lot of yellow in the crowd, and they are patiently observing the jaunty start to the Brazilian national anthem, before launching into a passionate and powerful rendition.

All the former Brazil players in the posh seats are standing in their pristine suits, except for Ronaldinho, who didn't get the memo, and is there in his PJs.

Slight change of pace for the Norwegian national anthem, Ja, vi elsker dette landet, but no less passion on display.

OH AND FIREWORKS! Lovely.

Kick off seconds away.

Sitting beside FIFA President Gianni Infantino as her side beat Côte d'Ivoire last week, Norway football federation president Lise Klaveness was wearing the hottest fashion item of the summer back home — the team's red shirt.

Klaveness wore the jersey under her blazer as she watched Erling Haaland's late goal send Norway through to this last-16 clash with Brazil.

However, but problems with deliveries have meant thousands of supporters back home are still scrambling to buy the shirt.

"There has been such a great demand for kits, and I think we have all felt that," Klaveness said following their win.

"Whether it is demand that has surprised or the production of shirts [that is the problem], we'll have to find out."

Norwegian broadcaster TV2 reported that shops lucky enough to get hold of the popular kits had long queues, and that their shelves were being cleared in minutes by fans eager to get behind their team as they take part in their first men's World Cup since 1998.

"It's a completely crazy demand, it's the sickest thing I've ever seen, it's fantastic," Oslo sports store manager Anders Lilleberg told TV2.

"It's sad to not be able to offer everyone who wants a Norway shirt one — after all, we want to offer as many football items as possible that our customers want — but you can only sell the ones you have."

Norway wore the red home shirt against Iraq and France at the World Cup, a white kit against Côte d'Ivoire and a black jersey against Senegal.

With elite striker Haaland leading the line, there is also a huge demand from outside the country.

"It's a luxury problem, but a luxury problem we have to solve," Klaveness said.

- Reuters

The Norwegian row celebration has become something synonymous with the nation's matches at this World Cup.

And fans have been relishing their new viral method of support, taking over Time Square yesterday.

And now they're rowing their way into Metlife Stadium out at Meadowlands as well.

Read more about the inspiration for the row celebration in Amanda Shalala's piece from New York, where I can only assume she has been in the middle of the action, rowing her way around the city.

Brazil, not Norway, will carry the heavier burden when the two sides meet in their World Cup Round of 16, according to Kjetil Rekdal, whose late penalty sealed one of the greatest wins in Norwegian sporting history against the then four-time champions in 1998.

"Brazil definitely has the greatest pressure on them on Sunday," Rekdal told Reuters.

He said Norway's long-awaited return to the knockout stage had already made this tournament a success for the team, while anything less than victory for Brazil would be seen as a national humiliation.

Their last World Cup meeting remains one of Norway's most cherished sporting memories.

Rekdal scored a cool 89th-minute penalty at Marseille's Stade Velodrome to secure a 2-1 victory over an already-qualified Brazil in 1998 and send Norway into the knockout stage.

He believes that result, and Brazil's winless record against Norway, may still sit somewhere in the minds of their opponents.

"That fear will always be there — the dread that they are going to slip up against Norway once again," he said.

For Norway's new generation, led by Erling Haaland, Martin Odegaard and Antonio Nusa, 1998 was history rather than baggage, he said.

"I don't think Haaland and Odegaard are thinking about Norway beating Brazil in '98," Rekdal said.

"They do not need the ghosts of the past to believe they are equal to the five-time world champions; their everyday reality at the absolute summit of European club football has already taught them that."

Rekdal said the current generation, built around players competing regularly at the highest level in Europe, were stronger than the Norway side that reached the last 16 in France 28 years ago.

Brazil would still begin as favourites, he said, but Norway's attack gave them a route to another upset.

His prediction is unequivocal.

"2-1 to Norway," he said.

"History repeats itself in football. It actually does quite often."

- Reuters