Norway na kusanya kai kusa da yin tarihi a FIFA World Cup 2026 — kuma tafiyar zuwa wannan lokaci ta dauki dogon lokaci. Wannan al'ummar Skandinavia ta shiga Kofin Duniya karshe a shekarar 1998, wanda ke nufin sun sha wahalar rashin kasancewa a babban fagen kwallon kafa na duniya tsawon shekaru 28 kafin su koma.

Wasan shekarar 1998 a Faransa yana da wuri na musamman a tarihin kwallon kafa na Norway. Norway ta ci Brazil a matakin rukuni — sakamakon da har yanzu ana girmama shi a matsayin daya daga cikin manyan nasarori a tarihin kasar — amma ba su wuce zagaye na 16 ba.

Tarihi na kusa

Yanzu, kusa da shekaru uku bayan haka, Norway sun sake samun kansu a zagaye na 16 na FIFA World Cup 2026, tare da damar ci gaba zuwa inda ba a taba kai ba. Wuri a wasan kusa da na karshe zai zama mafi zurfin tafiya da wannan al'ummar ta taba cimmawa a Kofin Duniya.

Hanyar ba ta sauƙi ba. A cikin shekarun da suka biyo baya bayan France 98, an sami lokuta da yake kamar al'ummar ba za ta iya dawowa ga gasar ba kwata-kwata. Gazawar kamfen na cancantar shiga ya gwada haƙurin masu goyon baya kuma ya tayar da wasu tambayoyi masu wahala game da alkiblar kwallon kafa ta Norway.

Duk da haka, kasar ta ci gaba, ta sake gina kanta, kuma a karshe ta samar da tsara mai iya fafatawa a fagen duniya. Dawowar Norway zuwa FIFA World Cup 2026 ta riga ta ba da lokaci na tarihi: Norway ta lashe wasan zagaye na fitar da ƙwararru a Kofin Duniya a karon farko a tarihinsu.

Brazil na tsaye a hanya

Wanda yake tsaye tsakanin Norway da farkon wasan kusa da na karshe ba wani bane sai Brazil — ainihin abokin hamayya da suka ba mamaki a shekarar 1998. Wannan wasa yana ɗauke da labari mai ban sha'awa, yayin da Norway ke ƙoƙarin maimaita wancan cin nasara mashahuri na matakin rukuni a babban taron ma fi girma.

Brazil suna cikin mafi yawan da ake tsammani su lashe gasar kuma za su kawo babbar ƙalubale, amma masu goyon bayan Norway za su yi mafarki. Idan ƙungiyarsu ta sami hanya don wuce waɗannan manyan 'yan wasan Kudancin Amirka kuma, hakan zai kammala ɗaya daga cikin labaran da suka fi ban mamaki a wani Kofin Duniya na kwanan nan.