Soccer
Did we not like that! England can finally bury the World Cup ghost of 1994 with victory over Norway
FIFA+: World Cup archive & programmes FREE on DAZN
Football games constantly come with healthy slices of nostalgic narrative, and ahead of the World Cup's quarter-finals, there are some deep dives to go into on each of the four upcoming clashes.
However, for those England fans of a certain vintage, the meeting with Norway presents the chance to finally put to bed an open wound that goes back over 30 years and ironically centres around the last time the World Cup was Stateside.
Some of the current crop of Three Lions players weren't even born the last time these two met competitively, but for those who lived it, some small payback on the failure of their 1994 qualification collapse at the hands of Norway is long overdue.
Back to the 90s
England's 1990s are often lauded by those who lived it as some of the best times to be an England fan. The almost-glory of Italia 90, the perfect summer of 96 when football almost came home for the first time, and even the emergence of Owen and Beckham in 1998, make it feel like it was a rosy time for the national team.
However, in between those highs came the transitional period under Graham Taylor, when things did go to an all-time low. Taylor stepped into the management shoes of Bobby Robson after the 1990 World Cup and was dealt a difficult hand.
A lot of the 1990 heroes were starting to age, and a new generation needed to be found. Yet, there wasn't a lot ready to be capped at that time, leaving the new England boss the difficult task of merging two eras without the personnel available.
Getty
Names such as Butcher, Robson and McMahon were all gone, while injuries took hold of Gascoigne and Barnes, robbing the national team of their services, while Chris Waddle was, for some reason, left in the cold. Yet, their replacements, the likes of Curle, Palmer and Daly, were unfairly just not of the same calibre.
Nevertheless, England still qualified for Euro 92, but crashed out at the group stage, and even with the pool of players not at its height, Taylor's questionable picks meant concerns were growing.
And those concerns only got deeper during the qualification for the 1994 World Cup, set to be staged in the US for the very first time.
Drawn in a group with the Netherlands and Norway, it was a tricky task, but one Taylor's team should have had enough to navigate. But Norway had other ideas.
All about Oslo
England's opener was against Norway at Wembley, and when David Platt scored 10 minutes into the second half, it looked as though things were kicking off the way Taylor was hoping.
But Kjetil Rekdal's goal 13 minutes from time saw the points shared and it became the first blow in a qualification campaign that slowly unravelled for the former Watford manager.
By the time the sides met again in June 1993, Norway had already beaten the Dutch, while England could only manage a draw in the same fixture, having led 2-0 at Wembley.
It meant a positive result was required in Oslo, or the Three Lions would risk being out of control of the group.
Getty
What transpired was far from positive. A below-par performance from an ever-improving Norwegian side, stacked with familiar names from the Premier League, saw the Scandinavians win the game thanks to goals from Oyvind Leonhardsen and Lars Bohinen.
It was a result England never recovered from. A win over Poland gave them hope, but a nightmare of a night in Rotterdam, where Ronald Koeman became the villain of the story in the Netherlands' 2-0 win, meant a miracle was needed in the final round of games.
Norway were through, having surprised both the Dutch and Taylor's men, but needing a massive score against San Marino and a favour from Poland, England's last chance went up in smoke inside nine seconds when San Marino unbelievably took the lead against the Three Lions.
They rallied and won 7-1, but it was not enough. Norwegian damage had been done, and Taylor 'did not like that' as the results meant England would not appear at the World Cup finals for the first time since 1978.
Getty
Finally, some revenge
Unsurprisingly, Taylor lost his job, and the story is excellently told in one of the best-ever football documentaries that followed the ill-fated campaign.
Who knew at that point it would be three decades before England and Norway would meet competitively once again, and this time the stakes are arguably even greater.
Revenge is probably too strong a word, seeing as Taylor should take large blame for some of the choices he made, but it does feel like Norway are still owed one for their part in the downfall.
Of all the disappointments suffered over the years, 1993's failure probably doesn't rank too high, especially when you consider it was a transitional period for England's national team.
But for those who lived it, it would be a nice small payback to tick off the list.
Watch the world's best football on DAZN
After the World Cup is over, there is so much great football still to watch on DAZN.
Premier League: All English top flight matches live and in full in Canada
Serie A: Watch all 380 matches of the Italian league live in the UK and Canada. Also in the US in Spanish language
Champions League: Watch every match of the 2026/27 campaign in Canada. Three matches per round exclusively in the US, in Spanish language
National League: DAZN is the home of the National League, with every game available either live or on-demand, plus selected North and South matches
FIFA+ on DAZN: Watch over 7,000 live matches a year, plus World Cup archive, iconic documentaries, films, and player profiles for FREE
More details and to subscribe to a DAZN football package, click here
