Norway's Perfection, Italy's Playoff Curse Haunts

MILAN, MONDAY – No miracles occurred at one of the best football temples in Europe, the San Siro Stadium, Milan. In need of a nine-goal victory, the Italian national team instead suffered a 1-4 defeat to Norway in the final match of Group I for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, Monday (17/11/2025) early morning WIB.

In front of 69,020 spectators at San Siro, Italy suffered its first defeat at home against Norway. After starting the match offensively and scoring a quick goal in the 11th minute through a shot from young Inter Milan striker Francesco Pio Esposito, Italy failed to maintain the rhythm of the game after halftime, conceding four goals.

Norway equalized through winger Antonio Musa in the 63rd minute. Norway's greatest striker, Erling Haaland, sealed the win and his team's perfect record in 2026 World Cup qualifying with braces in the 78th and 79th minutes.

The two goals from the Manchester City striker were only about 40 seconds apart. Strand Larsen, who replaced Haaland, secured Norway's advantage in the 90+3 minute.

The final score at San Siro underscores Norway's dominance, known as "Landslaget," in Group I. They concluded the competition by securing the top position with a collection of eight victories. Never before has Norway completed the qualification round of an official event with a perfect record, winning every match.

The results in Group I also mark the second record for Norway in concluding their actions in the non-league World Cup qualification. This achievement was previously established in 1998, which was their last participation on the world stage.

In addition, Norway has achieved their best goal record in official tournaments. For the first time, the national team was able to score more than 30 goals, specifically 37 goals, in eight qualifying matches for the 2026 World Cup. The attacking trio of Erling Haaland, Alexander Sorloth, and Thelo Aasgaard contributed 26 goals among them. Haaland scored 16 goals, while Sorloth and Aasgaard each contributed five goals.

Norway has also established itself as the most productive team in the history of the pre-World Cup in the European zone. They average 4.63 goals per game. This figure surpasses the record of 4.3 goals per game held by Germany during the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.

"I don't think there are many nights in life that are better than this moment. It's surreal," Norway coach Stale Solbakken told TV2, as reported on the UEFA website.

A sense of wonder was also expressed by Nusa. "This feels like too much, but I still can't believe it. This result is more than I could have dreamed," he said.

Performance in the qualifying round has raised hopes for Norway to improve their performance in the World Cup. The best record of the national team is reaching the round of 16 in two out of three participations. Specifically, this was achieved in the editions of 1938 and 1998.

However, Norway is likely to face a challenging opponent in the group stage of the 2026 World Cup. Referring to the latest FIFA rankings, ranked 29th, Norway will enter the third pot, which means they will encounter two strong teams from the first and second pots.

The group stage draw will be held on December 5 in Las Vegas, United States. The basis for the draw is the latest FIFA ranking released on November 19.

Meanwhile, Italy is traumatized by the fact that its qualification for the 2026 World Cup will have to be through the playoffs. In the previous two editions, Italy failed to reach the world stage, losing to Sweden in 2018 and then to North Macedonia in the playoff semifinals in 2022.

The 2026 World Cup pre-playoff round will be contested by 16 teams competing for the four remaining tickets in March 2026. A total of 16 teams will be placed in four groups that will each play one semifinal and one final match, lasting one game.

The playoff draw will be held in Zurich, Switzerland, on Thursday (November 20, 2025). Italy will have the opportunity to play at home in the semifinals. However, the opponents they face will not be easy.

Based on the FIFA rankings, Italy will be placed in the first pot of the playoffs. Italy's potential semifinal opponents will be one of the four teams in pot four that qualified through the 2024-2025 UEFA Nations League: Romania, Sweden, and Northern Ireland.

Another team with a chance of being in Pot 4 is North Macedonia or Wales. Both teams still have a chance to vie for direct qualification to the World Cup or a playoff spot from Group J in their clash in Cardiff on Wednesday (November 19, 2025) WIB.

"First and foremost, we must apologize to the fans because 1-4 is a heavy result. It's very sad because we played very well in the first half, but the biggest disappointment comes from not playing to our standards in the second half," Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso told RAI Sport, as quoted by Tuttosport.

In truth, Italy has exerted all its ambitions to win. Playing offensively and scoring quickly had briefly fostered optimism. Italy was able to make Norway defend for at least the first half hour of the match.

During that period, Italy was able to create five shots. Meanwhile, Norway had to wait until the 31st minute to produce a shot on goal against Italy, guarded by Gianluigi Donnarumma. However, the fate of the match turned around in the second half.

Italy seemed to run out of fuel and was frustrated by its failure to add goals in the first half. This mental block benefited Norway, allowing them to play more aggressively and easily contain the attacks from "Gli Azzurri" in the second half.

Italy could only add two shots on target. Meanwhile, Norway scored four goals from shots on target made after the break.

"This team must rebuild its strength as it did in the first half. We performed solidly and played in the right positions. Unfortunately, as soon as the opponent created opportunities, we became fearful. This must change; we cannot be afraid," said Gattuso. (AFP)