Norway manager Stale Solbakken confirmed after the match that withdrawing his talisman was a straightforward decision based on the player’s physical state. Haaland, who has been the standout individual performer for Norway with seven goals at the tournament, finally hit a wall in the heat of the quarter-final.
Speaking to reporters, Solbakken said: "It was not a tough decision to take him out, because he was finished. Maybe I should have taken him out ten minutes before. Obviously, he has had a tremendous World Cup, he used all his energy and power game after game after game. I think that he also got a dead leg in the second half, so that combined with the fatigue. But he did everything that he could, I think he was a bit unlucky in a couple of situations. But he scored seven goals in five games for us, he had a fantastic World Cup."