Ivory Coast vs Norway: two leaky defences, one tempting total
There is a comforting story bookmakers like to tell about knockout football: that nerves tighten everything, that the door gets bolted, that 1-0 is the natural state of high-stakes drama. They have priced this Round of 32 tie accordingly — Under 3.5 sits at a frankly miserly 1.32, an open confession that they expect an attritional evening in Arlington.
I admire the theory. I just don't believe these two particular sides have read the script.
Norway concede; it is practically a tradition
Look at the evidence. Norway have shipped goals in every serious match of this tournament. Iraq, who should have been swept aside, deservedly equalised before the favourites pulled away. Senegal turned a 3-1 into late chaos, with Sarr scoring twice as the Norwegian back line cramped and creaked.
Even the France rotation game — yes, a B-side — ended 4-1, a reminder of what happens when nobody closes down the dangerous men. Solbakken restores his A-team here, which sharpens the attack but doesn't magically repair a rearguard that has looked nervy under pressure all summer.
Crucially, Julian Ryerson is out injured. That leaves the right flank in less authoritative hands — precisely the channel where Côte d'Ivoire's quickest weapons live.
The Ivorians run at exactly the right places
Yan Diomandé and Pépé are direct, fast and fond of one-v-one situations. Norway's own pundits said it plainly: if Diomandé gets space, "anything can happen." That is not a defence whispering reassurance.
And these Elephants are no reputational sacrifice. They pushed Germany, beat a near-full France in a warm-up, and edged Ecuador and Curaçao with late, decisive quality. A side making history rarely chooses to sit and suffer.
And it cuts both ways
At the other end, Côte d'Ivoire must handle Haaland and Sørloth crashing the box — while missing Singo, a powerful covering option. Ndicka's return helps, but two such aerial menaces against a reshuffled back line is a permanent threat.
Two attacks built to wound, two defences prone to melodrama, a game that cracks open the moment it tilts. The market has filed a fourth goal under "afterthought." I'd file it under "live."
