Thousands of Norwegian football fans flooded central Oslo on Tuesday night after their team reached the World Cup last 16 — turning a historic sporting moment into a drunken street show that left damaged metro trains, uprooted plants and broken fencing behind.
Norway’s 2-1 win over Ivory Coast marked the country’s first knockout-stage victory at a World Cup, sending tens of thousands of supporters into the capital’s streets.
Crowds dressed in red, white and blue stretched from the Royal Palace down Karl Johans gate, Oslo’s main boulevard, where fans performed the now-famous “Viking row” celebration — a synchronised rowing motion that has become a trademark of Norwegian supporters during the tournament in the United States.
But the party quickly crossed from national pride into public nuisance.
Near the Royal Palace, revellers tore up plants and ripped down fence posts, leaving palace grounds staff to clean up the mess after the crowd moved on.
“I daren’t think what will happen if we make it all the way to the final,” Royal Gardener Ole Johan Hildre told Norwegian broadcaster NRK.
The chaos also reached Oslo’s public transport system. Transit operator Sporveien said several metro carriages had to be pulled from service for repairs after fans tore down advertisements and dented carriage ceilings during the post-match celebrations.
“It is unfortunate that people get so carried away that it affects our equipment,” Gina Scholz, communications manager for Sporveien, told local media. She still conceded it had been “a fantastic evening.”
More than two million people in Norway — out of a population of about 5.5 million — watched the match, according to estimates from broadcaster TV2.
For Norway, it was a rare football night to remember. For Oslo’s gardeners, cleaners and transport workers, it was another reminder that some fans apparently cannot celebrate a win without wrecking whatever is closest to them.