⚽️ Kick-off time: 4pm EDT/9pm BST/6am AEST ⚽️ Player guide | Bracketology | Full bracket | Mail Tom LIVE Updated 7m ago Tom Lutz Sun 5 Jul 2026 20.05 BSTFirst published on Sun 5 Jul 2026 19.00 BST Share Key events 19m ago Teams 1h ago Preamble Who says rival football fans can’t get on?
“In the closing track ‘Oslodum’ - a nod to the legendary percussion group Olodum in the city of Salvador in Brazil’s northeast - Gil affectionately sings about Norway as the terra do bacalhau - the land of cod.
“Who knows how the match will play out.
A new hand of God or the land of cod?
A goalkeeper howler and the hand of cod?
In any case, one team will win and the other will row home, I mean go home.
No matter what, the sun will rise again in Oslo tomorrow.” Weather watch We’ll have no repeat of the crushing heat of France v Senegal in Philadelphia yesterday.
It’s muggy and overcast here in New York City today (only nine hours from New York/New Jersey Stadium by public transport!) but significantly cooler than yesterday.
I’m not saying I’d want to chase around Vini and Haaland for 90 minutes in this heat (although it would mean I was a professional footballer and incredibly rich) but it’s manageable.
Norway and Brazil make one change each.
Julian Ryerson is back from injury to slot in at full-back for the Norwegians while the injured Lucas Paqueta is replaced by Gabriel Martinelli for Brazil.
Brazil: Alisson, da Silva Danilo, Marquinhos, Gabriel, Douglas Santos, Rayan, Guimaraes, Casemiro, Martinelli, Cunha, Vinicius Junior.
Subs: Weverton, Ederson, Ederson Silva, Alex Sandro, Neymar, Raphinha, Bremer, Leo Pereira, Fabinho, dos Santos Danilo, Endrick, Luiz Henrique, Ibanez, Thiago.
Norway: Nyland, Ryerson, Ajer, Heggem, Wolfe, Odegaard, Berge, Berg, Sorloth, Haaland, Nusa.
Subs: Tangvik, Selvik, Thorsby, Ostigard, Larsen, Aursnes, Bjorkan, Thorstvedt, Aasgaard, Schjelderup, Bobb, Hauge, Langas, Falchener.
Referee: Ismail Elfath (USA) Leander Schaerlaeckens is at New York/New Jersey Stadium for us today and has some crowd news.
“Judging by the crowd filling into the arena here, it’s entirely possible that yellow is the only color that exists,” he writes.
Hello!
It’s the dark horses v the thoroughbreds today as Norway take on five-time champions Brazil for a place in the quarter-finals.
There’s been a growing feeling in the last few days that Brazil are there for the taking – partly due to Norway’s impressive showings so far (apart from against France, when they rested their best players), Brazil’s fine-not-great finishes at the last two World Cups, THAT semi-final in 2014 and their problems against Japan and Morocco at this tournament.
We shall see if those concerns are valid very soon… Tom will be here shortly.
In the meantime, here’s Graham Ruthven with a short preview of today’s game: Brazil are far from a perfect team, but Carlo Ancelotti is finding solutions to their problems.
The comeback win over Japan in the round of 32 highlighted the quality of a team that was written off by some early in the tournament.
This might not be a vintage Brazil outfit, but with Ancelotti in charge they have momentum.
Norway also have momentum after seeing off Ivory Coast in the last round.
Most encouraging for Stale Solbakken was that Haaland and Martin Odegaard didn’t even play all that way.
Instead, the likes of Antonio Nusa and Oscar Bobb stepped up to get Norway through.
They’re more than just a one (or two) man team.
Player to watch: Vinicius Junior, Brazil - There will be no shortage of star power in New Jersey for this match, but Vinicius could be the most electrifying, and influential, player for either team.
If the winger turns up, Brazil could have the edge.
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