FIFA World Cup 2026: Norway’s ‘Viking Row’ fever reaches India as amb…

New Delhi [India], July 10 (ANI): Norway’s Ambassador to India, May-Elin Stener, led the viral ‘Viking Row’ celebration at the Royal Norwegian Embassy in New Delhi on Thursday, joining embassy officials and football fans in recreating the signature chant that has become synonymous with Norway’s historic FIFA World Cup 2026 campaign. cat-cross.com

Norway’s World Cup campaign has captured global attention because of the ‘Viking Row’, a synchronised celebration in which supporters mimic rowing a Viking longboat. The tradition has gone viral across social media, with players including Erling Haaland and captain Martin Odegaard joining supporters after victories.

Appearing in their first-ever quarter-finals against England, scheduled for July 11 (local time), Norway’s incredible run in the tournament, which also includes an impressive 2-1 win over Brazil in the Round of 16, has been powered by Manchester City’s goal-scoring machine Haaland, who is amongst the contenders for the Golden Boot with seven goals, just one behind Argentina icon Lionel Messi.

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May-Elin Stener said Norway reaching the quarter-finals for the first time has created immense excitement across the country. She praised the team’s strong unity and collective effort, adding that the success has brought Norway into the global spotlight while allowing the nation to share its history and showcase the widespread passion and support for football among its people.

“This is the first time we are in the quarter-final. That’s very exciting for the whole of Norway. So that’s the feeling that we have. Very excited… we also have a very good team supporting him and playing very well together. that’s our strength… It’s very exciting that Norway in this way is coming into the news. Then we can also shed a little light on our history and we can also show the world that we are very happy and very supportive of our football team and everyone in Norway is very interested in football," she said while speaking to ANI.

Norway’s clash against England will witness Haaland battling the talismanic England skipper Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham.

During the match against Brazil, Haaland’s goal tally in the World Cup went to seven goals after a brace, making him the player with the joint-most goals in his debut World Cup since Poland’s Grzegorz Lato scored seven in 1974.

Haaland is averaging a goal every 14 touches in the tournament, the lowest ratio of any player to score three or more goals in a single World Cup edition over the past 60 years.

Haaland has netted seven goals from just 18 shots at the 2026 World Cup, giving him a 39% conversion rate. This is the best finishing efficiency (with 15 or more shots) in a single World Cup since Gary Lineker in 1986, who scored six goals from 15 shots at a 40 per cent rate.

With the win over Brazil, Norway are the only side among 91 nations Brazil have faced that they have never managed to beat, with two draws and three defeats in five meetings. (ANI)

(This content is sourced from a syndicated feed and is published as received. The Tribune assumes no responsibility or liability for its accuracy, completeness, or content.)

Former India cricket team star Ravicandran Ashiwn has been ruled out of the remainder of Major League Cricket (MLC 2026) due to an injury. This comes as a blow to the San Francisco Unicorns (SFU) who bagged the veteran in the auction ahead of the tournament. Ashwin’s entry into the MLC was possible in 2026 as he had retired from international cricket in 2024 and from the IPL & domestic cricket in 2025, paving way for him to participate in other T20 leagues across the globe.

Ashwin’s maiden MLC stint ends early

As per a statement issued by San Francisco Unicorns, Ashwin has been ruled out of the remainder of MLC 2026 due to a right knee injury. Despite all the hype surrounding the veteran all-rounder joining SFU in the tournament in the USA, he featured in just one game this season, where he went wicketless and conceded 24 runs in the 2 overs that he bowled. Perhaps, the surfaces in the USA favouring pacers over spinners was the main reason why Ash was kept out of the playing XI.

“I’m disappointed to end the season early, but unfortunately this injury means that’s the right decision. I’ve truly loved my time with the San Francisco Unicorns and will be cheering the boys on for the rest of the tournament. Thank you to my teammates, the coaching staff, everyone across the San Francisco Unicorns organization, and all the Unicorns fans for your incredible support,” Ashwin said after being ruled out.

Australia’s Peter Siddle has been approved as Ashwin’s replacement in SFU for the rest of MLC 2026. The pacer has already impressed in the opening games of the tournament as cover for Xavier Bartlett and Aaron Hardie.

Meanwhile, Ashwin will be racing against time to recover and be fit for the European T20 Premier League (ETPL) which is scheduled to begin in late August. Ashwin is both the captain and mentor of the Dublin Guardians franchise – a team thatis owned by former Indian head coach Rahul Dravid. Ashwin was also supposed to feature in the Big Bash League (BBL) in the previous season after being signed by Sydney Thunder. However, he couldn’t do so as he had to undergo surgery.

The post Ashwin ruled out of MLC 2026 due to knee injury, maiden stint ends after just 1 match appeared first on Inside Sport India.

ફિફા વર્લ્ડ કપ ૨૦૨૬ હવે તેના અંતિમ તબક્કા તરફ આગળ વધી રહ્યો છે. રોમાંચક ક્વાર્ટર ફાઇનલ મેચમાં ફ્રાન્સે મોરોક્કોને ૨-૦થી હરાવીને સેમિફાઇનલમાં ગૌરવપૂર્ણ સ્થાન મેળવી લીધું છે, જ્યારે આ હાર સાથે મોરોક્કોનું વર્લ્ડ કપ જીતવાનું સપનું ચકનાચૂર થઈ ગયું છે. સમગ્ર મેચ દરમિયાન ફ્રાન્સનું પ્રભુત્વ જોવા મળ્યું હતું અને મોરોક્કોની ટીમ એક પણ ગોલ નોંધાવી શકી નહોતી.

ફ્રાન્સ-મોરોક્કો, એમ્બાપ્પેની પેનલ્ટી મિસ અને રોમાંચ

મેચનો પ્રથમ હાફ અત્યંત રોમાંચક રહ્યો હતો. બંને ટીમોએ ગોલ કરવા માટે ઘણી તકો ઊભી કરી હતી, પરંતુ કોઈ સફળતા મળી નહોતી. મેચની ૨૪મી મિનિટે ફ્રાન્સ પાસે લીડ મેળવવાની સુવર્ણ તક હતી, જ્યારે મોરોક્કોના ડિફેન્ડરે પેનલ્ટી બોક્સ (D) ની અંદર કિલિયન એમ્બાપ્પેને ફાઉલ કર્યો હતો. ફ્રાન્સને પેનલ્ટી એનાયત કરવામાં આવી, પરંતુ મોરોક્કોના ગોલકીપરની ચપળતા અથવા નસીબના જોરે એમ્બાપ્પે આ પેનલ્ટી ચૂકી ગયો અને પ્રથમ હાફ ૦-૦ની બરાબરી પર સમાપ્ત થયો.

ફ્રાન્સનો વળતો પ્રહાર

બીજા હાફમાં ફ્રાન્સે રમતની ગતિ બદલી નાખી અને માત્ર ૬ મિનિટના અંતરાલમાં બે ગોલ કરીને મેચ પોતાના નામે કરી લીધી. ૬૦મી મિનિટ: પ્રથમ હાફની ભૂલ સુધારતા, કિલિયન એમ્બાપ્પેએ શાનદાર ફિલ્ડ ગોલ કરીને ફ્રાન્સને ૧-૦ની લીડ અપાવી. ૬૬મી મિનિટ: ફ્રાન્સના આક્રમણને ચાલુ રાખતા ઓસ્માન ડેમ્બેલેએ બીજો ગોલ ફટકારીને સ્કોર ૨-૦ કરી દીધો. આ બેક-ટુ-બેક ગોલ બાદ મોરોક્કો દબાણમાં આવી ગયું અને અંતિમ સીટી વાગવા સુધી વાપસી કરી શક્યું નહીં. ફ્રાન્સે ૨-૦થી આ મેચ જીતીને સેમિફાઇનલની ટિકિટ મેળવી લીધી.

સેમિફાઇનલમાં કોની સામે થશે ટક્કર?

ફિફા વર્લ્ડ કપ ૨૦૨૬ની સેમિફાઇનલમાં પહોંચ્યા બાદ હવે ફ્રાન્સનો મુકાબલો સ્પેન અથવા બેલ્જિયમ સામે થશે. આ બંને ટીમો વચ્ચેની ક્વાર્ટર ફાઇનલ મેચ બાદ વિજેતા ટીમ ફ્રાન્સ સામે ટકરાશે. બુધવાર, ૧૫ જુલાઈના રોજ ભારતીય સમયાનુસાર (IST) રાત્રે ૧૨:૩૦ વાગ્યે મેચ રમાશે. ફિફા વર્લ્ડકપમાં પોર્ટુગલ બહાર થતા રોનાલ્ડોને જોવા આતુર તેના ચાહકોમાં ઉત્સાહ ઘટયો છે. છતાં મેસ્સી અને એમ્બાપ્પેની શાનદાર રમત લોકોના આકર્ષણનું કેન્દ્ર બની રહી છે. ફ્રાન્સે મોરોક્કોને હરાવીને સેમીફાઈનલની ટીકીટ મેળવી લીધી છે. હવે તેની સામે કઈ ટીમ આવશે સ્પેન -બેલ્જિયમની મેચના આગામી પરિણામો કહેશે.

આ પણ વાંચો : FIFA World Cup 2026 : ક્વાર્ટર ફાઇનલ માટે 8 ટીમ નક્કી,જાણો સંપૂર્ણ શેડ્યુલ

Miami [USA], July 10 (ANI): Norway forward Erling Haaland offered his fans a glimpse of the training session ahead of the team’s FIFA World Cup 2026 quarter-final clash against England, through a post on social media.

In an X post, Haaland posted multiple pictures of himself training ahead of the crucial clash on Saturday (local time).

“Quarter-final prep," Haaland wrote in the caption.

Quarter-final prep pic.twitter.com/Y3tVvCX9zE

— Erling Haaland (@Erling) July 9, 2026

During the match against Brazil, Haaland’s tally went to seven goals after a brace, making him the player with the joint-most goals in his debut World Cup since Poland’s Grzegorz Lato scored seven in 1974.

Norway booked their place in the quarter-finals after stunning five-time world champions Brazil with a 2-1 victory in the Round of 16, one of the biggest upsets of the tournament.

A brilliant brace from Erling Haaland inspired the Norwegians to the famous win, setting up a blockbuster quarter-final clash against England.

Notably, Haaland is averaging a goal every 14 touches in the tournament, the lowest ratio of any player to score three or more goals in a single World Cup edition over the past 60 years.

Haaland has netted seven goals from just 18 shots at the 2026 World Cup, giving him a 39% conversion rate. This is the best finishing efficiency (with 15 or more shots) in a single World Cup since Gary Lineker in 1986, who scored six goals from 15 shots at a 40 per cent rate.

England, on the other hand, head into the quarter-final on the back of one of their most memorable away victories, with Jude Bellingham’s brace inspiring a dramatic 3-2 win over Mexico at the Azteca despite being reduced to 10 men.

History, however, slightly favours Norway, with England managing just two wins in their last seven meetings. The Three Lions’ struggles date back to a memorable 2-1 defeat in a FIFA World Cup qualifier in 1981. (ANI)

(This content is sourced from a syndicated feed and is published as received. The Tribune assumes no responsibility or liability for its accuracy, completeness, or content.)

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