(Armenia – Norway 0-9, match canceled) Thick fog in Armenia put an end to Norway’s World Cup qualifier on Tuesday. It will not be played finished today.
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70 minutes into the game, the referee signaled for a Yerevan substitution. According to the regulations, a decision on whether the match can be completed had to be made within 45 minutes after it was interrupted.
The remaining 20 minutes will be played on Wednesday at 11 – 08.00 Norwegian time.
– We think it is perfectly fine to play, so we could well play on to finish the match. The rule says that the line judges must be able to see each other from a maximum distance. These are the rules, so we can only accept that, says national team manager Martin Sjögren in the broadcast to NRK.
Norway led 9-0 after two goals by Elisabeth Terland and Lisa-Marie Utland, in addition to goals from Frida Maanum, Guro Reiten, Anja Sønstevold, Guro Bergsvand, Celin Bizet Ildhusøy.
– I have never experienced this, says national team captain Maren Mjelde to NRK. She did not play the match, but was on the bench.
Norway won 10-0 when the teams met in September. Norway stood before the match with 13 of 15 possible points in the qualification, and 24-0 in goal difference. Armenia, on the other hand, have zero points and are without goals and 36 setbacks in the first five matches in the qualification.
Norway tops the group with 13 points in five games. Poland has 11 and Belgium 10. These two nations meet on Tuesday night. The group winners go straight to the World Cup in Australia in 2023, second place gets the opportunity through the playoffs.
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