Iconic Moments in Football No.91
Forty years ago, England travelled to Norway for a World Cup Qualifier. They had failed to qualify for the two previous tournaments and Ron Greenwood and his men were determined to reach the Finals in Spain the following year.
Hungary, Romania and Swtzerland joined Norway and England in the qualifying group, with the top two sides progressing to Spain.
Going in to the match in Oslo, England topped the group with seven points from six games (two points were awarded for a win), with Hungary and Romania joint second on five points. Switzerland were in fourth with four points and Norway were bottom on three. Both Norway and England only had one game left to play after, but the other three teams had three matches each.
Bryan Robson gave England the lead after 15 minutes before Tom Lund and Hallvar Thoresen netted for Norway in the 35th and 41st minute. The hosts held on for a famous 2-1 win to shock England and give England and put their World Cup dreams in jeopardy.
On Norwegian television, their commentator Bjorge Lillelien was jubilant. He began listing famous English people in a tirade before declaring that their boys took a hell of a beating! It makes for excellent listening and shows how carried away someone can get over a football match! This is what Lillelien excitedly shouted down his microphone shortly after his Norway side won:
“Lord Nelson, Lord Beaverbrook, Sir Winston Churchill, Sir Anthony Eden, Clement Attlee, Henry Cooper, Lady Diana, vi har slått dem alle sammen, vi har slått dem alle sammen! (we have beaten them all, we have beaten them all!). Maggie Thatcher, can you hear me? Maggie Thatcher … your boys took a hell of a beating! Your boys took a hell of a beating!”
England finished second in the group, a point behind Hungary who they beat 1-0 in their final qualifier at Wembley. They were only a point clear of Romania who finished third and could easily have missed out if Romania had beaten Switzerland. Instead, they could only draw 0-0 meaning England needed to beat Hungary in the final qualifier at Wembley. They duly did, and secured a place at their first World Cup since 1970.
Bjorge Lillelien died just six years later at the age of 60.
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