Brazil Eliminated from World Cup by Norway in Last 16

Brazil were 1-0 down. At first, a few yellow jerseys wandered up the aisles and out to the concourse, writing off the small fortunes they had invested in being here, never mind the chances of their nation lifting a sixth World Cup. Then it was a steady stream of Brazil fans heading to the exits.

They knew how this was going to end. That Brazil would be eliminated here in the last 16, knocked out at the earliest stage since 1990. That they would have gone six World Cups without lifting the trophy, their longest title drought.

Erling Haaland’s second goal sealed it. Neymar’s penalty kick, deep into injury time, was essentially meaningless.

When Ismail Elfath blew the final whistle, the Brazilian players did not flee the scene. They just stood on the field, stunned. Or they sat on the bench, dazed. It was as if this wasn’t real, and their World Cup not over, so long as they refused to leave the pitch.

What had happened? They had missed a penalty, and a fair few decent chances besides. Also: Haaland had happened. His brace sent Brazil home, 2-1.

What had happened was that Vinícius Júnior, finally turning in the kind of form Brazil had longed for, couldn’t save Brazil. Most of the threat they managed against Norway emanated from his blessed feet. But Vinícius wasn’t allowed to take the first-half penalty that might have changed everything – that was left to Bruno Guimarães, who stutter-stepped his effort far too close to goalkeeper Ørjan Nyland.

Endrick, the prodigy, couldn’t save Brazil. He came on in the second half and almost immediately was set free by a needle-threading through ball from Vinícius, only to misplay it and poke his finish harmlessly wide.

Neymar couldn’t save Brazil. He sent the Brazil fans into raptures merely by coming on as a substitute midway through the second half. He tried a few stepovers that somehow looked both quick and slow – much like Neymar himself in this late and diminished stage of his strange career. He rolled the late consolation goal past the wrongfooted Nyland from the penalty spot after the two exchanged some verbal hostilities, but it wasn’t nearly enough.

Carlo Ancelotti couldn’t save Brazil. The veteran coach managed to finally get Vinícius going, and to coax convincing 3-0 wins over Haiti and Scotland from his charges after a 1-1 draw with Morocco to open the tournament. He fashioned a late comeback win over a Japan team who perhaps deserved better. And that’s all he could do for Brazil, in the end.

Norway had never lost to Brazil in four contests and had beaten them in the group stage of the 1998 World Cup, albeit with Brazil already through. They more than deserved to progress to their first-ever World Cup quarter-final. This was hardly a fluke. Ståle Solbakken’s side had forged chances of their own, and might have gone ahead in the third minute when Alexander Sørloth wandered needlessly offside before cutting back for Patrick Berg, who finished handsomely.

It leaves the question vexingly unanswered of whether Brazil are more a brand than a team. They remain the gold standard in the international game when it comes to good vibes, global goodwill and, of course, history. But it has been quite some time since they lived up to their own soaring standards. A 2019 Copa América title, their first in a dozen years, has now been preceded and followed by three straight failures to reach even the semi-finals of the World Cup. Their last semi-final wasn’t that pretty either.

A decidedly unremarkable Brazilian collective looked tentative at this World Cup, reactive. Brazil brought an incomplete team to North America. Endrick, at 19, wasn’t ready for this stage, and so Brazil lacked a serviceable striker. The midfield ran on old legs and middling creativity. “It’s very evident that in the midfield, we have to move some players,” Ancelotti said after the game. “We need some young talent. We need some high-level players to be able to come into Brazil to play for the national team.” That was true not only in midfield.

Ancelotti’s side was set up to pounce on Norwegian mistakes. But even when those came in a ponderous and untidy contest, the Seleção neglected to make much of their chances. Ancelotti’s charges lacked urgency. There was a lot of walking about. Brazil panicked when Andreas Schjelderup had skinned his man and dropped a cross on to Haaland’s head in the 79th minute for the first goal.

Before long, the Norwegians were doing their celebratory Viking row with their fans, as the last of the Brazilians trudged off the field.

“Obviously, everyone is profoundly disappointed given what happened,” Ancelotti said, before adding a baffling assessment. “We didn’t do a spectacular World Cup campaign, but we did a good one.

“Bottom line, we have to find new ideas. I don’t think it’s the end; it’s the beginning of the new cycle. At this point, we have to deal with our feelings, manage our sadness and start again tomorrow.”

As of Sunday, there were nearly 1,500 tomorrows until Brazil kick off another World Cup.