Norway journey to North America in style as dominant first half sees off poor Sweden

Sweden had not won at Ullevaal in 35 years, and they were on the back foot from the first whistle as the Norwegians passed the ball around with assurance. It took the hosts only nine minutes to break the deadlock, when Jorgen Strand Larsen guided home Julian Ryerson’s drilled assist.

Norway continued to cut through Sweden’s defence every time they surged forward, and the lively Antonio Nusa made it two before 20 minutes had elapsed, the winger cutting inside and unleashing a venomous shot beyond Jacob Widell Zetterstrom’s reach.

Zetterstrom’s superb point-blank save from Strand Larsen prevented the scoreline from becoming even more embarrassing for the Swedes, who were consistently out-thought and out-fought. Graham Potter’s worried expression on the bench spoke volumes, and it turned to anger when Strand Larsen stooped to head in from Ryerson’s corner.

Although the possession stats were fairly balanced heading into half-time, just six touches in Norway’s box told the story of how ineffectual Sweden were in the opening 45 minutes, which may have played a part in Potter deciding to make eight changes at the interval.

Two shots on target from the visitors in the first five minutes after the restart suggested the changes had been effective, only for Norway to keep pressing at every opportunity, forcing mistake after mistake from a poor Swedish side.

Nusa should have done better when firing right at Zetterstrom just before the hour, and only an offside call stopped the Swedes from conceding a fourth as David Moller Wolfe slid in at the far post.

Andreas Schjelderup began to run rings around the visitors, carving out multiple chances in the latter stages, but Sweden were next on the scoreboard thanks to a superb individual effort from Alexander Isak 14 minutes from time.

The Liverpool forward picked the ball up in midfield, wide on the left wing, before going on a mazy dribble to evade the Norwegian defence as he cut into the area and curled the ball over the goalkeeper.

Incredibly, Sebastian Nanasi might have had a second four minutes later with a glorious header from Victor Lindelof’s floated ball in were it not for the intervention of VAR, as Norway avoided having to survive a grandstand finish in the final minutes and closed out the 3-1 win.

Sweden’s poor recent form continues, and after only scraping into the FIFA World Cup via the play-offs, Potter will be hugely concerned by such a disappointing performance from his side, one which extended their run of games without keeping a clean sheet to 10.

Norway’s performance will delight Stale Solbakken, particularly given that they were without both Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard, and it was just their third win in the last nine friendlies (D3, L3).

Blagult will be hoping for better when they face Greece at home in their final pre-tournament friendly on 4th June, while Norway's last match before their maiden World Cup match this century is against Morocco in New Jersey on 7th June.