Norway coach Ståle Solbakken shed tears of pride after his team lost 2-1 to England after extra time, bowing out of the World Cup in the quarter-finals, ending a run that captured hearts and minds at home and abroad.

Norway had progressed through the group stage and beaten Brazil in the round of 16 to face England in the quarter-finals, but although Andreas Schjelderup gave Norway the lead, Jude Bellingham equalized before the end of the first half and scored the second goal early in extra time to send them out of the tournament.

Solbakken said: "We played at the highest level, and the small details to win were not in our favor, but that's life, and now we need to catch our breath a little."

From Erling Haaland's stunning goals to the famous Viking rowing celebration invented by the fans, Norway left their mark on the tournament with their return to the World Cup finals for the first time since Solbakken was a player in the team in 1998.

The 58-year-old coach said: "That's how it is, this is the highest level, we can't go higher than this, and we faced some problems at the start, during the first 20 minutes, but I really tip my hat to the players."