"Flying Cat" Ends Norway: Haaland Out, Still a Winner

By Han Bing. Perhaps the 33°C heat at Miami's Hard Rock Stadium dulled the edge of Haaland, who hails from Scandinavia. Norway lost 1-2 to England in extra time, missing out on the World Cup semifinals. Haaland, who had a lackluster performance, was substituted early by Solbakken, thus losing the chance to compete for the Golden Boot.

Regrettably, Norway was perhaps only one "Flying Cat" camera distance away from becoming the fourth consecutive World Cup dark horse. In the 2nd minute of first-half stoppage time, Bellingham's equalizer came from a bizarre incident: Norway's goalkeeper Nyland kicked a goal kick, and the ball hit the "Flying Cat" camera, changing direction. Despite the Norwegian goalkeeper immediately protesting to the referee, it was to no avail. Norway could have gone into halftime with a lead from Schjelderup's 36th-minute goal, but ultimately had to accept the fate of being leveled in stoppage time.

Norway seemed to have used up all their luck in the victory over Brazil. Before the match, rumors of a virus outbreak in the squad surfaced, though the team doctor denied it, claiming the players were fine. However, coach Solbakken confirmed that at least defender Pedersen and forward Larsen were affected. The match itself was not exciting; the heat seemed to have drained both teams' energy. The first shot of the game came only in the 29th minute. Haaland, who had scored in every World Cup appearance before this match, failed to find the net. Before being substituted in the 15th minute of extra time, Haaland had only two shots, one on target, and was almost invisible in the first half. Early in the second half, he had a header saved by Pickford, and later in the 76th minute, he missed a rebound.

Although Haaland's father was very unhappy with Solbakken for substituting his son after the match, one should realize that Haaland was not in good form and even received treatment during the game. When Solbakken took him off, the Manchester City striker was clearly unable to change the score. In 105 minutes, Haaland only touched the ball 21 times and ended up without a goal. This was the first time in this World Cup that Haaland started a match without scoring; the last time he failed to score for Norway was in a 1-5 away defeat to Austria in October 2024.

Of course, Haaland did have chances. In the 44th minute of the first half, Sørloth chose to shoot himself rather than pass to Haaland, who was in a better central position, and his shot was blocked. That could have been a golden opportunity to extend Norway's lead. Three minutes later, Bellingham equalized, severely denting Norwegian morale. After the match, Norwegian fans on social media were extremely dissatisfied with Sørloth's performance, but coach Solbakken seemed more composed. He mentioned the bizarre incident where the ball hit the "Flying Cat" camera, which indirectly led to Bellingham's equalizer: "We all saw what happened. It was indeed strange, but we have to accept it. That's part of football."

Although Norway did not improve upon their own best-ever World Cup result set in this tournament, they can be proud of defeating world champions Brazil and narrowly losing to one of the tournament favorites, England, only in extra time. The applause they received after the match proved the fans' recognition.

Haaland also expressed immense pride in Norway's performance in this World Cup: "Putting Norway on the World Cup map is perhaps the most touching thing for me. Our performance in the World Cup has given more motivation to young people in Norway, making them believe that Norway can achieve great results in major tournaments."

Besides scoring seven goals in his first World Cup and eliminating Brazil to reach the quarterfinals historically, this World Cup has also been a huge boost to Haaland's personal influence. His social media followers surged by 23 million. Due to his easygoing personality and incredible goal-scoring ability, he attracted a large number of new fans in North America. Regarding this, Haaland remained humble and composed as always: "The past six weeks have changed Norway and changed me. We need to maintain this feeling because it proves once again that Norway can be one of the strongest football nations in the world."

Haaland also congratulated his former Borussia Dortmund teammate Bellingham, who scored a brace. Though they were opponents on the pitch, they are good friends off it. Perhaps it is this optimistic attitude that allows Norway and Haaland to leave the World Cup with their heads held high, smiling. The "Flying Cat" incident was ultimately just an accident, but Norway's success has been proven not to be an accident, but a certainty. For Haaland and Norway, that is enough.