Brazil vs Norway Preview: Team News & Prediction | FIFA World Cup 2026 | Round of 16
An extremely intriguing and potentially thrilling Round of 16 tie at FIFA World Cup 2026 comes in New York/New Jersey on Sunday as Brazil face Norway for a place in the last eight.
Kick-off date/time:
How to watch on TV: UK – ITV / USA – FOX Sports
How to watch online: UK – ITVX / USA – FOX One
Brazil preview: Finding a way
Brazil head into the Round of 16 on the back of a dramatic 2-1 defeat of Japan in the Round of 32. Having gone behind before half-time due to a Kaishu Sano strike, the Brazilians made some tweaks and found an equaliser via Casemiro before Gabriel Martinelli scored a last-gasp winner deep into second-half stoppage-time.
The Selecao’s performance followed a similar pattern to their opener against Morocco, bettered by tricky and slick opposition early on before tweaking things and finding some control. They had shown major improvement in 3-0 victories against Haiti and Scotland in between the games against Morocco and Japan.
Norway preview: On a run
Norway won their first ever FIFA World Cup knockout match midweek, defeating Cote d’Ivoire by two goals to one in Dallas. Having gone ahead in the first half with a brilliant strike by Antonio Nusa, the Ivorians equalised in the 74th minute via Amad Diallo before a scruffy Erling Haaland finish gave Norway a famous win.
They had started their FIFA World Cup campaign with a hammering of Iraq and then a thrilling defeat of Senegal before Stale Solbakken made ten changes to their eleven for their final game against France. They lost that game 4-1 but the scoreline didn’t necessarily reflect the punchy way in which the Norway ‘reserves’ played.
Brazil team news: Endrick could start
Having been pressured by media and supporters to give Endrick more minutes, Carlo Ancelotti brought him on at half-time against Japan and the game changed, be it because of him or not, and keeping it similar to the eleven that finished the game will be their intention.
That doesn’t mean that match-winner Gabriel Martinelli will start ahead of Matheus Cunha, though. Raphinha has returned to running on grass but remains a major doubt for this one.
There are doubts over the fitness of midfield duo Casemiro and Lucas Paqueta, with the former likelier to be fit and available than the latter.
Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Alisson; Danilo, Marquinhos, Gabriel, Douglas Santos; Guimaraes, Casemiro; Rayan, Cunha, Vinicius; Endrick
Unavailable:
Questionable: Paqueta (Injured), Casemiro (Injured), Raphinha (Fitness)
Norway team news: Unlikely to change
Fredrik Aursnes was dropped against Cote d’Ivoire but did replace Marcus Pedersen. Pedersen had played well, though, and should retain his spot ahead of the still-injured Julian Ryerson, who again remains a major doubt.
David Moller Wolfe struggled at left-back and so Aursnes filling in there wouldn’t be a massive surprise, but the expectation is that Stale Solbakken keeps things the same from the start.
Predicted XI (4-3-3): Nyland; Pedersen, Ajer, Heggem, Wolfe; Odegaard, Berge, Berg; Sorloth, Haaland, Nusa
Unavailable:
Questionable: Ryerson (Injured)
Brazil’s top FIFA World Cup Fantasy assets
Gabriel Magalhaes ($5.5m) – Defender
Vinicius Junior ($10.0m) – Midfielder
Matheus Cunha ($7.3m) – Forward
Matchday 5 captain pick: Vinicius Junior
Set-piece duty
Penalties: Vinicius Junior, Paqueta
Free kicks: Bruno Guimaraes
Corners: Bruno Guimaraes
Norway’s top FIFA World Cup Fantasy assets
Antonio Nusa ($6.1m) – Midfielder
Martin Odegaard ($7.7m) – Midfielder
Erling Haaland ($10.5m) – Forward
Matchday 5 captain pick: Erling Haaland
Set-piece duty
Penalties: Erling Haaland
Free kicks: Martin Odegaard
Corners: Martin Odegaard
Key stats
- Norway are unbeaten in the four meetings between the sides with two wins and two draws. One of the victories was in their only World Cup encounter, a 2-1 win in the 1998 group stage.
- Brazil have lost their last six World Cup knockout ties against European teams. Their last triumph was in the 2002 final when they beat Germany 2-0.
- Brazil have won eight successive World Cup round of 16 knockout ties with their last exit at this stage of the competition coming in 1990 when they lost 1-0 to Argentina.
- Brazil are unbeaten in their 11 FIFA World Cup fixtures on US soil (W8 D3).
- Brazil have scored in 13 of their last 14 World Cup matches.
- The 2-1 win against Côte d’Ivoire was Norway’s first-ever knockout stage victory in the history of the competition.
- Norway have only lost two of their last 20 international matches (W15 D3).
- Erling Haaland has scored in each of his last 13 competitive encounters for Norway, registering 25 goals in those matches.
- Erling Haaland has scored 60 times in 53 matches for his country, now scoring against 26 different teams. He could increase that tally to 27 with a goal here.
- Norway head coach Ståle Solbakken was in his country’s 1998 FIFA World Cup squad but did not feature in the 2-1 win against Brazil. He did, however, come on as a substitute in Norway’s 4-2 friendly win against Brazil in Oslo a year earlier, replacing Erling Haaland’s father Alf-Inge at half-time.
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Brazil vs Norway prediction
Norway have a good record against Brazil. They have played each other on four occasions with Norway winning two and the other two being drawn. The last time Norway qualified for a FIFA World Cup, back in 1998, they defeated the Brazilians by two goals to one in the group stage.
Brazil were poor in the first half against Japan, as they were in their opener against Morocco, but the tweaks that Carlo Ancelotti made in both matches saw them steady themselves and finish strongly.
Norway boast more firepower than both the Moroccans and the Japanese, and their goal-scoring capabilities will concern a Brazil side that, despite possessing both Gabriel and Marquinhos, have looked shaky when defending.
This should be a real thriller for the neutral and it may even be too close to call in terms of a result, but both teams scoring would be a decent bet with two strong attacks coming up against shakier defences.
Brazil vs Norway betting tip: Both teams to score
