The mishit of a lifetime? Haaland proves that luck and class go hand-in-hand as Norway advance to last-16

Largely attributed to veteran broadcaster Ron MacLean, a household name in Canada for his decades of (ice) hockey coverage, the famous quote proved right on Tuesday in the Cote d'Ivoire vs. Norway last-32 match at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Specifically, it rang true about Erling Haaland, Norway's superstar goalscorer who notched the game-winner with four minutes remaining in his team's 2-1 victory. The 25-year-old was expected to make noise at this World Cup, his first, after reigning supreme atop the Premier League goal charts for several years with Manchester City.

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And he has delivered so far, scoring four times in the group stage to pace the Norwegians to the knockouts.

But as big as those goals were, they pailed in comparison to the one he scored on Tuesday.

Norway had taken a first-half lead through Antonio Nusa, whose 39th-minute strike broke the deadlock between two evenly-matched sides. For long stretches, the Ivorians were thwarted in their attempts to find an equalizer, and it took a moment of absolute brilliance from Amad Diallo — one of Haaland's club foes at Manchester United — to put Les Éléphants on level terms with just over 15 minutes left to play.

To say Diallo's impressive run and finish could be the goal of the tournament would not be overstating things. It was that good a strike, and it unsurprisingly gave the Ivorians a boost as they pushed for a late winner.

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Watch: Famous World Cup Last-Minute Goals

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However, Norway still had their ace in the hole and he was ready to make himself known. Haaland had been largely anonymous for most of the game, getting just 26 touches as Cote d'Ivoire kept service to the prolific striker to a minimum.

But late moments in games often brings chaos as players tire and momentum shifts. Despite the play favouring the Ivorians for much of the closing stages, it just took one Norwegian counterattack to permanently change the game.

A searching through ball from Oscar Bobb on the right flank found Patrick Berg at the top of the Ivorian penalty area, and the midfielder took one touch before cutting the ball back to Haaland, who had been watching the play unfold and somehow found himself a pocket of open space directly in front of goal. With his next touch — his 27th of the match — Haaland swung his right foot and actually mishit his effort, with the ball striking his heel and weakly rolling towards the gaping net.

For a split scond, it seemed as though Cote d'Ivoire goalkeeper Yahia Fofana would be able to stop the ball from trickling into the net as he dove and extended his right hand. However, it was a fruitless effort as the ball beat Fofana to the goal line, and a bewildered Haaland could do little more than smirk with the realization that his flubbed shot had put his team through to the round of 16.

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Make no mistake, Haaland meant to score that goal. And he relied on his instincts and pedigree to put himself into the position to do just that. But the manner in which the ball bobbled into the net made for an almost amusing scene, especially when contrasted with hundreds of examples of Haaland's power and prodigious talent creating highlight-worthy goals across a half-a-decade at the top levels of the club game in Europe.

Regardless, the 86th-minute goal puts Haaland on five for this World Cup, second only to Lionel Messi. And more importantly, it puts Norway into the last-16 of a World Cup for the first time since 1998.

While Haaland has made a name for himself as one of the most physically dominant goalscorers of his generation, he and Norway would gladly trade all of it for a few more goals like Tuesday's. 

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