Brazil vs Norway | FIFA World Cup 2026 — Round of 16 | Preview and Predictions

The Round of 16 will see top teams vying for places in the next round as Brazil will face a feisty Norway on 6th July at the New York New Jersey Stadium in the USA. 

For the game, here we present our preview and prediction.

FIFA WC26 | Round of 16: BRA vs NOR| 01:30 IST, July 6, 2026

While Brazil has won the World Cup multiple times, this is the first time Norway has reached the knockout stage. This is already a great achievement for the Vikings but now they have to face one of the title contenders to progress into the quarter-finals.  

Brazil defeated Japan in their RO32 match, recovering from a 1-0 deficit with Casemiro equalising a few minutes before the hour mark and then Gabriel Martinelli came off the bench to score the winner in stoppage-time to evoke massive celebrations amongst the Selecão fans. Kaishu Sano was the scorer for Japan. Brazil has to watch out for being too lax as they hardly produced chances in the first half. There was a lack of urgency until they went behind by a goal. Carlo Ancelotti made the right substitutions, bringing on Martinelli and Danilo late in the second half and it did have the desired effect as they scored late to win the game. Also, Brazil seems to be over-reliant on Vinicius Jr. and Matheus Cunha in attack, other players need to step up if they want to go all the way. 

Norway defeated Ivory Coast in their RO32 fixture. Ivory Coast boasted of a lot of big names but failed to overcome a side they were expected to beat. Antonio Nusa opened the scoring for the Norwegians in the first half,  Amad Diallo equalised for the Ivorians but Norway’s lethal marksman Haaland had the last word with an 86th minute winner. Norway was the better team, had more possession, more big chances and a higher expected goals (xG) stat. Ivory Coast will be very disappointed with their effort as on paper, they looked like the stronger team but couldn’t show it on the pitch. Returning to the World Cup stage after 28 years, this is proving to be an exceptional tournament for the Norwegians. 

Injury-wise, Brazil will miss two key players in Raphinha and Lucas Paquetá, both out with hamstring injuries while Norway will miss Julian Ryerson due to a thigh injury.

Although Brazil hasn’t really shown Joga Bonito, they have been solid in defence and clinical in attack. Their only concern is a one-dimensional midfield. Having said that, Bruno Guimarães has been excellent with four assists so far but their midfield doesn’t create many chances as they lack an attacking midfielder in their side. As for Norway, their concern isn’t attack but defence as they have conceded a goal in every game so far and with a side like Brazil, it will be difficult to outscore as the Brazilian defence has been solid and almost impenetrable. This could be a great end-to-end encounter as both teams like to play attacking football but we feel that Brazil holds the edge in this one due to their big stage experience and better defence. 

Score Prediction: Brazil 2-1 Norway 

Venue: New York New Jersey Stadium, East Rutherford, USA