Norway boss Stale Solbakken said a wait of 25 years to reach a major tournament put a huge psychological strain on his team, after they all but secured a place at the 2026 World Cup.

Norway beat Estonia 4-1 in their final home game in their penultimate match in Group I of the World Cup qualifiers on Thursday, with Alexander Sorloth and Erling Haaland both scoring twice in the second half.

While rivals Italy responded with a 2-0 win in Moldova just a few hours later, Norway are three points clear of the Azzurri with a goal difference advantage of 17.

That means Gennaro Gattuso's side would need to win 9-0 when the teams face off in their final game on Sunday, at San Siro, to deny Norway a place at the tournament.

Norway are now virtually assured of a place at their first major tournament (World Cup/Euros) since Euro 2000, and their first World Cup since the 1998 edition.

Solbakken appeared at both of those competitions during his playing days, and he admits his failure to steer the team to Euro 2024 – when they finished third in a qualification group containing Spain and Scotland – made their task in the current cycle even tougher.

"It's the fact that we failed to go to the last European Championships, which we should have gone to," he told TV2 in Oslo.

"Then everyone emphasises a longing to get to something. Then it was 25 to 26 years with something hanging over us. Someone has to take that responsibility.

"I love every minute of my job, for the most part. The matchdays are rough, I admit. 

"You have done what you can do, said what you can say. Then it's a waiting game. What can I say? It's tough."

Norway were held goalless for the first 50 minutes of Thursday's game, only accumulating 0.87 expected goals (xG) and recording two shots on target in the first half.

Asked what he told the players at the break, Solbakken replied: "I said to the boys, 'You needed a coach at half-time today. You haven't needed a coach before.' 

"I'm a relieved man, I really am. We will try to finish these qualifiers well now."

Solbakken's team also have an outright goalscoring record to play for in their final match. Norway's 33 goals in seven matches are already a joint-record for any World Cup or Euros qualification campaign this century, with Belgium (2018 World Cup) and England (Euro 2020) previously reaching that mark.

Twelve European teams had previously scored 33 goals or more in a single World Cup qualifying cycle, while eight have done so in a Euros qualification campaign. 

However, all but two of those teams required at least 10 matches to do so, with Germany (33 goals, World Cup 1982) and England (33, Euro 2020) doing so in eight games. One goal against Italy this weekend, then, would give Norway the all-time record for a cycle of fewer than 10 games ahead of either tournament.