Stale Solbakken has described Carlo Ancelotti as one of the greatest coaches in the history of European football, ahead of Norway's showdown with Brazil at the World Cup. 

Norway booked their spot in the last 16 with a 2-1 victory over Ivory Coast, with the in-form Erling Haaland scoring an 86th-minute winner at Dallas Stadium. 

It marked Norway's first victory in the knockout stages of the World Cup, but they come up against five-time winners Brazil, who downed Japan 2-1 with a late winner of their own. 

This will be the fifth meeting between the two nations in all competitions and their second at the World Cup, after a 2-1 Norway win back in 1998. 

Norway are playing their second knockout game at the World Cup, having only played two such matches in their major tournament history before their run in North America. 

Brazil, meanwhile, are looking to win four consecutive World Cup matches for the first time since a run of 11 between 2002 and 2006. The Selecao have also progressed from nine of their last 10 matches in the last 16 round of the competition, only failing to do so in 1990 against Argentina. 

Following their win over Ivory Coast, a video on Norway's social media platforms showed Solbakken giving his team a stirring speech, which ended with him saying: "Carlo Ancelotti, we're coming for you!"

"It's as far from provoking as possible – he's ‌maybe the greatest coach in the history of European football, together with [Pep] Guardiola, [Jose] Mourinho and one or two more from a historic perspective," Solbakken told reporters on ‌Wednesday.

"I have the greatest respect for him. I ⁠met him a few times with ‌FC Copenhagen when we played Chelsea and Real Madrid in the Champions League.

"He's a great guy, with a great sense of humour, and we have the greatest respect for him and Brazil also as a country.

"So I think that they can see the funny side of it, it was not a very deep analysis."

Since beating Germany in the 2002 final, Brazil have been eliminated from each of their six World Cup knockout ties against European opponents, with their last such defeat coming against Croatia four years ago, in a quarter-final penalty shoot-out.

After beginning their campaign with a draw against Morocco, Brazil put together back-to-back 3-0 victories over Scotland and Haiti to finish top of Group C on goal difference. 

But they needed a late intervention from Gabriel Martinelli last time out to get the better of Japan. Timed at 95 minutes, his strike was the latest winning goal in normal time of the knockout stages of the World Cup on record (since 1966).

Despite not being at their best for most of the tournament, Solbakken believes Brazil will provide a stern test for his players, acknowledging they must be at their best to win. 

"I think that Brazil are finding their feet, gradually getting better and ‌better, and they have strong players in all positions. We're looking forward to the challenge," Solbakken added.

"Brazil are favourites, of course, and are also a great candidate to win the whole tournament.

"But now it's in our destiny that we're going to meet them, and then we have to play up to our very best."