MIAMI, July 11 (Reuters) - Norway coach Stale Solbakken shed tears of pride after his side were lost 2-1 to England after extra time to exit the World Cup at the quarter-final stage, bringing to an end a campaign that captured hearts and minds at home and abroad.
Norway blazed through the group stage and beat Brazil in the last 16 to set up a titanic last-eight clash against the English, but despite Andreas Schjelderup giving Norway the lead, Jude Bellingham equalised before halftime and netted a second
early in extra time to send the Norwegians home.
"We have been playing at the highest level, and the margins were not in our favour, but that's life, and now we need to breathe a bit," Solbakken said.
From the stunning goals of Erling Haaland to the famous rowing celebration patented by the fans, Norway made their mark on the tournament as they returned to the World Cup finals for the first time since Solbakken was a player in the squad in 1998.
"This is the way it is, this is at the top level, it can't get any higher than this and we had a few problems in the beginning, the first 20 minutes, but I really applaud the boys," the 58-year-old said.
FOOTBALL FEVER IN NORWAY
Football fever caused supplies of the country's red home shirt to run out as thousands of fans flocked to stadiums, streets and squares to watch Haaland and company's epic run in the tournament.
"I hope that the summer of '26 has been okay for everybody and that we've done something good together. We have had fantastic support from all of Norway, and we lived up to the hype, and that's what I'm really proud of," Solbakken said.
"We said that we would step up when we got to the World Cup from the fantastic qualifiers, and we've managed to do so, and the boys did so. And we have been here together for 6-1/2 weeks. I don't see that people have been bored for a second, and that's good to know."
In a tense game, Norway had a goal at a set-piece disallowed following a push by Haaland, and rumours spread around the stadium that the ball might have struck an overhead camera wire before England's second goal, but Solbakken was in no mood to look for excuses.
"There are many situations today. And, well, maybe we have been looking at many of them in the World Cup, so these things happen. We just want to wish England the best of luck," he said.
(Reporting by Philip O'Connor, editing by Ed Osmond)
