19-year-old striker Benjamin Sesko, from former club Haaland Salzburg, set up the equaliser and himself scored the winner to huge cheers in the packed stadium.

Serbia’s victory over Sweden a few hours later made the defeat a little less. With Norway winning, the conditions will be exactly the same in Tuesday’s group final: A draw qualifies for a group win, a defeat doesn’t.

Then Norway had to manage without Kristian Thorstvedt, who received a yellow card in Saturday’s wizards cauldron. Serbia lost Sergej Milinkovic-Savic due to a card ban. It was he who, two years ago, sunk Norway in a two-round play-off for a place in the European Championship by two scores at Ullevaal.

– It’s not like this match is really on the nose. This is the result that is on the nose. “We did a lot of good things, but also a lot of wild things,” national team manager Ståle Solbakken said at his post-match press conference.

– We played a little tactical naivety. We went for goal number two instead of waiting for the perfect transition. It got better when Fredrik Aursnes and Mats Møller Dæhli came on, then we had good jumps, but in the first 25 minutes of the first half we lost our minds a bit. We have to learn from it.

Free option

The aggressive home side contributed to Haaland being rarely placed in his preferred position, but soon after the break, Slovenia suddenly came to the aid, and he took advantage of free chances as greedily as ever when chances came after good play.

Home side right-back Zan Karnicik didn’t waste a short pass from Jan Oblak and played the ball straight to Mohamed Elyounoussi for it to bounce off Haaland. The super striker was relentless and scored through the feet of a Slovenian who desperately tried to block. The goal was checked by VAR for over a minute, but there was nothing wrong with that.

It was Haaland’s ninth goal in seven internationals this year. Tuesday’s group final could be a duel between number one and number two in the Premier League’s scoring charts, after Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic fielded Sweden by three goals.

– It was awkward because I couldn’t be there, but I’m sure my teammates did a great job and managed to do it, Kristian Thorstvedt told NTB.

bubble

Norway’s lead was well deserved after Leo Stigård had two good chances and a goal canceled out in the first half, all through set pieces from Martin degaard.

Slovenia had to wait until the 65th minute for their first chance, as Petar Stojanovic struggled to break through the Norwegian defence. The Slovenes shouted furiously for a penalty after the Norwegian made a tackle in the box, and captain Jan Oblak had to step in to prevent it from boiling over after Stojanovic and Andraz Sporar were booked.

The bubble continued, and in the 69th minute there was an equaliser. Benjamin Sesko broke through on the left after failing in the Norwegian defence, and at the far post he found fellow striker Sporar, who in a duel with Birger Meling slipped the ball into the net.

Norwegian substitutes Morten Thorsby, Mats Møller Dæhli and Jørgen Strand Larsen came in with chances that could have given them a new lead, but it was Sesko who gave Slovenia the win. His shot from distance in the rebound area went into the net at the post ten minutes from full time, behind a late reacting rjan Nyland.

After the game, the clubless goalkeeper bluntly denied that the lack of match practice had an impact on the final goal.

Recipe for success

Slovenia used the same recipe as in Oslo in June, high pressure in a 4-4-2 formation with great aggressiveness. Norway resisted a hasty opening and had good control as long as the plan was followed.

Norway had 65 per cent of the ball in the first half, mostly in their own half, while the Slovenians ran in between. After switching sides, Norway allowed themselves to be pressured into joining the Slovenian pursuit, and then lost control.

The three biggest opportunities in the first half came at set pieces and involved Degaard’s set piece legs and Stigård’s head strength, unfortunately also the skill of goalkeeper Oblak.

In the 10th minute, everyone thought that Stigård had given Norway the lead. degaard made a perfect free-kick into the middle, where the stopper poked the ball into the net. The referee thought he was too hard on Jasmin Kurtic in pursuit of the ball, and the goal was disallowed.

In the 22nd minute, Degaard took a corner from the right. Thorstvedt stumbled at the near post, and from close range Stigård turned his head on the ball. Oblak responded with a miraculous reflex rescue.

In the last minute of the first half, Stigård headed in another degaard free-kick, but the ball was too straight to give Oblak serious trouble.

For Slovenia it was an important win. While Norway need a point against Serbia to become country A, Sweden must beat Slovenia to avoid relegation to level C.