Erling Haaland on breaking down in tears after Norway’s 2–1 extra-time defeat to England in the FIFA World Cup.
🗣️ “Those tears weren’t because I missed out on a semi-final. They came because I felt like I had let an entire nation down. When you wear the Norway shirt, you don’t just play for yourself you play for every child dreaming in the streets, every family watching from home, and every supporter who believed in us. That weight is impossible to describe.”
“People will see me crying and call it weakness. Let them. I call it love. If losing for your country doesn’t break your heart, then football doesn’t mean enough to you. I would rather cry after giving everything than smile knowing I could have done more.”
“I looked around that dressing room and saw teammates devastated. Some couldn’t speak. Some were staring at the floor. Others were crying just like I was. That’s when it truly hit me. Our dream was over. All the sacrifices, all the hard work, all the belief… gone in a single night.”
“To every Norway supporter, I’m sorry we couldn’t give you one more match. You deserved to see us in the semi-finals. You stood by us from the first minute of this tournament until the last, and hearing you sing even after the final whistle made the pain even harder to take. We heard you. We felt your love.”
“England were better when it mattered most, and they deserve credit. But don’t think this defeat will break us. It will stay with me for the rest of my life. Every time I train, every time I score, every time I wear this badge again, I’ll remember this night and the tears that came with it.”
“This isn’t goodbye to our dream. It’s a painful chapter in our story. Right now my heart is broken, and nothing can change that. But I promise the people of Norway one thing we will get back up. We will fight again. And one day, these tears will be replaced by tears of joy. Until then, I’ll carry this pain with me every single day.”
🚨 𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚: The Belgian federation has released a new statement:
"After learning through media reports of FIFA’s decision to lift the automatic suspension of player Balogun, the RBFA sent a letter to FIFA requesting a copy of the decision, an explanation of the process that had been followed, and setting out its position regarding the applicable regulations."
"As its only response, FIFA sent a letter to the RBFA stating that it considered this correspondence to constitute an appeal, that a judge had been appointed, and that the RBFA had only a few hours to complete that appeal. No information whatsoever was provided by FIFA."
"All of this occurred while FIFA simultaneously refused to respond to the RBFA’s legitimate requests."
"Furthermore, during the match coordination meeting, FIFA deliberately removed the section concerning the automatic suspension of players from its presentation. This topic had nonetheless been part of all such meetings before each of the previous four matches. The RBFA questioned FIFA, both orally and in writing, about the reasons for this change, yet once again received no response."
"To be clear, as of this moment, the RBFA has still not received any decision or any explanation from FIFA regarding this matter. It therefore has no alternative but to challenge the player's eligibility for the upcoming match."
"Regardless of the sporting outcome of this match, the RBFA is deeply saddened by the course of events and will continue to fight in the coming hours, days and months in defence of the fundamental principles of ethics, fair competition, and the interests of football as a whole."
There are comments here giving the police the benefit of the doubt like we didn’t just see a cop lie about seeing a woman text while driving with the right hand she did not have.
I am deeply grateful for the overwhelming support, encouragement, and kind messages I have received from people around the world. Your solidarity has reminded me that football unites us beyond borders. Thank you to everyone.