Coverage of this match is entirely over, so I’m going to sign off. Here’s a report on England 5-0 Northern Ireland. Bye!
“Austria were closer to two or three or four than Norway were to equalising,” says John Arne Riise. “Massive disappointment.”
Germany, ranked No5 in the world, are next for Austria, at Brentford Community Stadium next Thursday. They are celebrating this win as if they have won the entire competition, and it’s probably a good idea for them to enjoy it while they’ve got the chance - they will be massive underdogs when they next play. But this was a massively composed display from them, and they will be no pushovers.
Updated
Final score: Austria 1-0 Norway
90+5 mins: It’s all over! Norway are out, and Austria celebrate!
Updated
90+4 mins: Laura Wienroither eats up a precious 40 seconds or so with a slow-motion 60-yard dribble, before she is eventually dispossessed. One minute to play.
90+2 mins: Another shot on target! Norway pump the ball into the area from the halfway line, it’s knocked down and Hegerberg’s close-range volley hits Zinsberger.
90+1 mins: Austria are four stoppage-timely minutes away from the knockout rounds.
89 mins: Norway have had a shot on target! Hegerberg finds Bizet, whose shot from the right side of the area would have ended up in the top corner had Zinsberger not pushed it to safety.
88 mins: Nicole Billa, scorer of the only goal of the game, comes off, and Marina Georgieva comes on.
86 mins: Norway bring on Vilde Bøe Risa for Frida Maanum.
85 mins: Caroline Graham Hansen gets some space on the right for Norway, but her cross is so, so poor, and dribbles to the nearest defender.
82 mins: Having waited 78 minutes for their first corner Norway have now had three, the latest presenting Ildhusøy with a very difficult volleyed chance, which she doesn’t take. Sophie Haug comes on for Blakstad.
81 mins: England go 5-0 up. Even Northern Ireland are scoring for them now - this one’s an own goal.
80 mins: The ball is headed away, bounces off a couple of people and is headed back into the area. For a moment it looks like Hegerberg will reach it first but ... well ... she doesn’t. Zinsberger claims it instead.
78 mins: Norway aren’t panicking yet, and are sticking to their methods. Their methods have just brought them a first corner.
75 mins: The stats tell a tale of Austria’s dominance: Norway have played more passes (337-236 as I type) and had more possession, but Austria are massively outrunning them (95.5km-91.7km), have had 16 shots to Norway’s two, and are 9-0 up on shots on target.
Updated
72 mins: Makas should have scored with her first touch! The ball comes across the area from the right and Makas peels off at the back post and is all on her own as the ball falls to her, she chests it down, and she considers her options for a while. She eventually chooses to hit it weakly straight at Pettersen.
71 mins: A first change for Austria, who take off their right winger, Hickelsberger-Füller, and bring on Lisa Makas, who is a centre-forward.
69 mins: Hickelsberger-Füller gets into the area from the right but Pettersen seems to be a complete ball magnet, and this shot goes straight at her too.
68 mins: Norway do a good thing! Hansen gets to the byline on the right and spears in a wicked cross. It doesn’t go anywhere near anyone in a white shirt, but still, enterprising play.
67 mins: Norway have the ball for a bit. Frida Maanum gets it, looks up, can’t see anyone to pass to, and waves her arms stroppily before turning and passing backwards.
65 mins: Norway make the night’s first substitution: Eikeland is out, and Celin Bizet Ildhusøy replaces her.
63 mins: The ball breaks to Billa on the edge of the area, but her first-time shot lacks power and flies straight at Pettersen.
62 mins: Dunst cuts onto her right foot and shoots at Pettersen. Norway have defended crosses into the box excellently, but haven’t been very good at very much else.
60 mins: Another goal for England’s Alessia Russo, and they lead Northern Ireland 4-0 and are surfing into the quarter-finals on the crest of a wave.
58 mins: Austria pass the ball around their backline for a while, to no obvious purpose. They eventually tire of this and pump it forwards, whereupon it is lost.
Updated
55 mins: Norway have a bit of possession and this time manage a shot at the end of it, but Hegerberg scuffs it well wide.
52 mins: A break in play while Wienroither receives some treatment. England have gone 3-0 up in Southampton, Alessia Russo with a header.
50 mins: Whatever Martin Sjögren said to his charges at the break doesn’t seem to have transformed them. Austria continue to look more threatening but here Hickelsberger-Füller, with two teammates to aim at, sends a low cross into the arms of Pettersen.
Updated
47 mins: Austria make their first chance 62 seconds into the second half, but having found themselves four on three they can’t manufacture a clear opening, and the shot hits a defender.
46 mins: Peeeeeep! Game back on!
The players are back out. Before play restarts Norway get into a huddle, where Graham seems to be delivering some bonus tactical instructions.
Beth Mead scored a second goal for England just before half-time, and they thus lead Northern Ireland by two goals to no goals. Rob Smyth’s liveblog is here:
Half time: Austria 1-0 Norway
45+3 mins: Peeeep! We have had half of the time, and Austria have had all of the chances. Norway have had one shot to Austria’s nine, no corners to Austria’s four, and can have absolutely no complaints about being in their current predicament. They need to win this game, and they haven’t looked at all like they’re able to do so.
Updated
45+2 mins: We’re midway through three scheduled minutes of stoppage time.
45+1 mins: Wenninger is booked for a foul on Hegerberg, which is the first time I’ve had to type Hegerberg’s name.
45 mins: A good spell of pressure from Austria, but though they have a couple of decent shooting chances, they don’t have any decent shots.
Updated
41 mins: Hickelsberger-Füller jinks left, jinks right, then shoots too close to Pettersen from 16 yards or so.
41 mins: There’s been a goal in today’s other game and it’s come from England, Fran Kirby putting them ahead against Northern Ireland.
40 mins: So, what now for Norway, who need to score at least twice? A little bit more urgency is the immediate answer, and Reiten sends in another cross which is headed clear.
GOAL! Austrlia 1-0 Norway (Billa, 37 mins)
Austria take a thoroughly deserved lead! It’s a lovely dinked ball into the box from Hanshaw, and Billa times her run nicely and sends a beautifully-judged header into the corner of the net!
Updated
36 mins: Hickelsberger-Füller’s attempt to win a corner off Blakstad ends badly, as she executes a completely accidental nutmeg, the ball doesn’t go out of play at all, and Norway clear.
34 mins: Save! Billa tests Pettersen’s recovery, running clear on the right and hitting a low, hard shot from an unpromising angle, which the keeper pushes to safety.
34 mins: Play restarts, without a substitution being made.
32 mins: Guro Pettersen, the Norway goalkeeper, goes down on one knee and calls for the phsyios. They lay her on her back and apply an ice pack to her ribs, while she winces in pain. This doesn’t look good for her.
29 mins: The ball goes out for a corner, from which Verena Hanshaw blazes a left-foot volley over the bar.
28 mins: Guro Bergsvand goes to ground to dispossess Sarah Zadrazil inside Austria’s penalty area. Her willingness to attempt a risky sliding tackle when it wasn’t absolutely necessary is a little worrying, but this one is perfect.
25 mins: Norway have wrestled their way into something approaching parity now, for all that they have largely left Austria’s penalty area very much alone.
22 mins: Someone in the crowd is ringing a tiny bell. It sounds a bit like one of the cow bells that skiing fans like to clang, only really shrill, like the little press-here-for-service bells at the front desk of a provincial hotel when someone is getting really tired of not getting any attention.
19 mins: Austria’s Hickelsberger-Füller goes down about 30 yards from goal, and when she doesn’t get a free-kick for her efforts she runs after the ball, pulling, pushing or kicking whoever has it already, and ends up with a yellow card.
18 mins: Austria have progressed from having marginally the better start to significantly dominating.
15 mins: Norway break really smartly, but it ends with Graham Hansen hitting a cross into a defender, and the rebound into the side netting.
12 mins: Austria hit the bar! It’s a shot from Feiersinger on the edge of the area that’s reasonably powerful but loops straight to Pettersen. It should have been a straightforward catch, but she fumbles it into the air, and onto her bar!
10 mins: Austria pass the ball about for a bit. Neither goalkeeper has been remotely threatened but Austria have started very well.
8 mins: A brief pause while VAR checks for a possible handball that nobody else spotted or appealed for, before they decide that there wasn’t one.
5 mins: Norway attack down the left, but Reiten’s cross is caught by Zinsberger.
4 mins: Nicole Billa goes down in the area, finding herself in the middle of a Bergsvand-Blakstad sandwich, but the referee is unimpressed and the VAR agrees.
3 mins: A pleasingly high-paced opening to the game, with Austria getting forward in encouraging numbers in the circumstances.
1 min: Peeeeeep! The game is under way, and a few seconds before England’s one does. Small wins, etc.
The captains meet with the referee on the halfway line, and have a bit of an awkward fist-bump-or-handshake moment, with Viki Schnaderbeck offering a fist and Maren Mjelde a palm. They end with an uncomfortable compromise.
Out come the teams! Norway are in their white away shirt with Austria wearing red.
Norway coach Martin Sjögren has a chat about the hangover from the England game, while his players warm up. They appear to largely be doing high-fiving routines.
We made some adjustments but most of all after that terrible night we had we’ve been working hard to encourage the players to believe in themselves so hopefully we’ll see a completely different team tonight. It’s very clear that we need to win this game so we have to score at least one goal. We can’t be too tense in the game, hopefully we can relax a little bit and have a good start to the game, and maybe go from there.
The BBC’s match coverage has begun, and they start by asking John Arne Riise what went wrong wit Norway’s performance against England. “Basically everything,” he says.
Rob Smyth is on England v Northern ireland duty:
The teams!
Team news is in, and the starting line-ups look like this:
Austria: Zinsberger; Wienroither, Wenninger, Schraderbeck, Hanshaw; Puntigam; Hickelsberger-Füller, Zadrazil, Feiersinger, Dunst; Billa. Subs: Kresche, Pal, Georgieva, Degen, Schasching, Schiechtl, Kirchberger, Höbinger, Eder, Makas, Enzinger.
Norway: Pettersen, T Hansen, Bergsvand, Mjelde, Blakstad; Eikeland, Maanum, Graham Hansen, Syrstad Engen, Reiten; Hegerberg. Subs: Skoglund, Mikalsen, Sønstevold, Thorisdottir, Bøe Risa, Sævik, Ildhusøy, Bjelde, Terland, Hansen, Jøsendal, Haug.
Referee: Kateryna Monzul (Ukraine).
Hello world!
The first knockout game of the 2022 European Championships comes in Brighton with the group stage not yet over, as Austria and Norway play for second place behind England in Group A. Both sides are currently on three points having beaten Northern Ireland and lost to the hosts, but Norway did so in such calamitous style, shipping six goals before half-time and eight by the final whistle, that they go into the match in third place (against Austria England only had five shots on target, and scored just once). A draw, then, would be enough for Austria, while Norway must win. On offer for whoever ends up in the runner-up spot is a quarter-final against Germany.
“We are playing against a very strong Norway side,” says the Austria coach, Irene Fuhrmann. This is true, whatever evidence anyone who watched their game against England might have gathered - Norway are ranked 11th in the world by Fifa, and Austria sit 21nd having never beaten them in their history. “They will definitely come out of the blocks quickly because they’ll want to forget about the last game, and we’ll have to be prepared for that and do everything we can to resist it. Norway have got some top players, they’re very physical, so we’ll really have to put our bodies on the line and do everything we can to resist them.”
In an ideal world Austria will want to do more than just resist them. No bus-parking here, if you’d be so kind. Fuhrmann’s side have conceded only that one Beth Mead goal in their last four games, which suggests that they might reasonably hope to keep a clean sheet if they played for one, though Norway have scored in seven of their last eight games, which suggests it might not be so straightforward. So this could go one of two ways, of which one might be a lot of fun. Welcome!
Updated
