Erling Haaland was Norway’s hero once more with the goal that put his country into the last 16 for the first time since 1998.
Antonio Nusa fired a superb effort beyond Yahia Fofana and give the Scandinavians a 1-0 lead six minutes before the break.
However, Ivory Coast levelled matters in the 74th minute when Amad Diallo showed great composure to finish low with his left foot.
Haaland took advantage of a brief lapse in the Ivorian defence to restore Norway’s lead and wrap up the victory.
The drama was not done as Diallo delivered a terrific free-kick that drew an equally spectacular Nyland save to ensure Norway held onto their lead this time.
‘It’s a shame to exit like we did’
“That's football. When you get chances, you have to score. We did the hard part by equalising. Unfortunately, we conceded that goal at the end. It's a shame,” said Fae as quoted by FIFA.com.
“The players gave it their all and played until the very end. We were up against a spirited team that defended well and managed to secure qualification.
“At this level, it comes down to the little details. You have to stay focused from start to finish, no matter the opponent. It was everyone's first World Cup.
“I think the players have learned a lot. Now, we’ll work on coming back stronger for the next challenges.”
Thiaw added: “It’s difficult to lose, you know, in the last few minutes, it’s difficult to find the right words, because my players fought from the very first minutes until the very last minute.
“We’ve learned a lot, thanks to this competition. It was the very first World Cup for many players, and maybe we were lacking in maturity.”
On Ivory Coast’s missed opportunity in the closing stages, he said: “Maybe we should have tried to make it until the extra time, but when you’re playing this type of team, you know, as soon as they get the slightest opportunity to score, well, they take it, and that’s what happened.
“I believe that when you’re playing this type of team, you need to be pragmatic. We really made a very big effort to score and we had the psychological advantage but we then wanted to score a second goal quickly, and they reopened spaces and made the most of it.”
Ivory Coast have absolute monsters
Norway manager Stale Solbakken praised Ivory Coast, saying they put up a great game and managed to get the better of his side in the duels at times.
“We played against a fantastic team who have some absolute monsters, physically, who got the better of us in the duels at times,” conceded Solbakken.
“The match swung back and forth, it looked like it could go either way. I think we had one or two more chances than they had so all in all, it was a deserved win. But I feel for their coach – the margins were slim.”
Diallo, who scored the only goal, said: “We are really proud of what we achieved.
We are the youngest team in this competition, so we can feel really proud. We had played in three tournaments before and never got past the group stage, so we’ve achieved that.
“It's a big thing to score that goal because it's a dream come true. I always dreamed of playing on the biggest stage, so scoring this goal was something crazy. In the end, even if you lose, it's a win also.”
While the defeat ended the Elephants' journey in the competition, Norway progressed to book a date with Brazil in the Round of 16 at New York New Jersey Stadium on July 5th.
