Erling Haaland saw his dream of tournament football dashed for the second successive time after Norway came up short in a 2-0 defeat against the Netherlands in their final game of UEFA qualification for the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
The Borussia Dortmund striker had hoped to fire his nation to a spot at next year's showpiece event, having helped Stale Solbakken's side into a three-way race with the Oranje and Turkey.
However late goals for Steven Bergwijn and Memphis Depay ended Norway's hopes following a match where they were second-best throughout, with Louis van Gaal's side taking their place as group winners.
What happened?
Following a year which saw the nation almost come to make a historic boycott of next year's tournament, narrowly avoided by powerbrokers in June, attention turned to the question of whether Haaland, captain Martin Odegaard and company could actually book a spot at all.
Having last qualified for a World Cup more than two decades ago - when they featured at France 1998 - the wait to end a frustrating exodus from the biggest showpiece in the game had never looked brighter with their raft of young talents in the mix.
Yet against a well-drilled Dutch side themselves looking to avoid another World Cup absence, they were limited in both possession and opportunity, though kept in the mix by virtue of a goalless encounter until the final few minutes.
Bergwijn's 84th-minute finish effectively broke their resolve and a second in injury time for Depay means that Haaland misses out once more on tournament football, with Norway having been absent from this year's rearranged Euro 2020 too.
Further reading
Netherlands confirm World Cup qualification
Haaland has no 'class' after refusing shirt request - Styche
Haaland: I don't score enough, I should have more goals than games
