42 years ago Norway, with half a professional, surprised England, today seeks to do it again in the world

Erling Haaland has scored every match of this World and made it seem easy to confront Brazil in the last phase, while in the midfield, Fulham's Sander Berge and the captain of Arsenal, Martin Odegaard, have controlled the rhythm of the game.

In the defensive department, Brentford's Christopher Ayer and David Moller Wolfe of Wolverhampton have brought stability, while Oscar Bobb remains an important option from the bench.

Seeing where Norwegian football once was, this generation would look unimaginable.

For decades, Sweden was the main football power of Scandinavian, even reaching a World Cup final, while Norway often relied on amateur players. Today, however, Norwegians have already reached the 2026 World quarterfinals and are preparing for one of the biggest matches in their history.

Norway's First World Cup View

Before the 1990s, Norway had qualified for the World Cup only once in 1938. In that period, however, securing a country in the tournament was much easier than today.

Several teams had advanced after their opponents had withdrawn from the race, while Norway had to secure the qualifications by running in front of Ireland in two games (3-2 and 3-3), Telegraph reports, broadcasting Periscope.

Their adventure in France lasted only one match. In the 1/8th phase of the final, they pushed Italy, the current and future world champion, to the extra time before they lost 2-1.

They would then spend 56 years until Norway's return to the largest world football tournament.

The famous surprise in 1982 World Erasers

When the preliminary started for the 1982 World Cup, only the qualifications in the tournament seemed an almost elusive target.

Norway was placed in a group of Switzerland, Romania and two major favourites -- Hungary and England.

On the eve of the match before the end, England traveled to Oslo with the intention of ending Norway's expectations of qualifications.

The locals had only five professional football players in the title formation. There was a team far from what is now Haland and Odegaard.

Bryan Robson crossed England into supremacy after only 15 minutes, and everything seemed to be going according to plan. England, however, became very relaxed and lost focus before the break.

Tom Lund equated the score after a cross-country crossing, while Hallvar Thoresen took advantage of a major mistake in English defence to make Norway to an advantage 2-1 in the 41st minute.

The result remained unchanged until the end, producing one of the greatest surprises in the history of the World Cup eliminations.

Norway's Revenge

Norway eventually completed what had started at the 1994 World Erasers.

After the 1-1 draw in Wimbledon, she defeated England 2-0 in Oslo, this time keeping the gate intact and eliminating “Three Lions” from the race.

This success also changed the perception of Norwegian football. During the 1990 ' s, English clubs began moving more and more Norwegian players, attracted by affordable prices, physical strength, and their adaptability to English football.

Most important, many Norwegians saw England's victory in 1981 as the moment when the country realized it could compete with the largest football nationals.

Now, more than four decades later, England and Norway will face each other again. But this time the challenge is even more weighty.

For the first time in history, the two nationals will meet at a quarterfinals of the World Cup. /Periscope