It was the celebration that gave Antonio Nusa away.
When they score for the first time at a World Cup finals, most players are overcome – particularly if the goal is as good Norway’s opener against Ivory Coast.
Not Nusa. The second his shot arced perfectly into the top corner, he was off and running, celebration at the ready. The winger raised his hand to his ear and made a ‘who’s talking now?’ gesture as he tore towards his jubilant team-mates on the bench.
Those few seconds showed a player full of confidence – and no little cockiness, either. The best athletes generally have it. When these moments happen in their careers, they are not surprised. It is what they expect and believe they deserve.
Nusa faces the most important game of his young career when Norway take on Brazil in New Jersey on Sunday for a place in the quarter-finals. Brazil look wobbly at full-back and Nusa can take full advantage. Daily Mail Sport takes a close look at Norway’s latest rising star.
Antonio Nusa is mobbed by Norway’s substitutes after scoring against Ivory Coast. The wild celebration showed his confidence, and some cockiness, for a youngster in his first World Cup
The winger’s signature strike in the last 32 clash saw him cut in from the left and curl the ball into the top right corner of the Africans’ net
The Nordic talent pipeline
Nusa was spotted playing for Langhus, a club to the south of Oslo that specialises in developing potential. The best players are then funnelled into local professional clubs and when he was 13, Nusa joined Stabaek.
Stabaek are not one of the country’s giants and have not won a league title since 2008, yet they were big news among scouts when Nusa started to make his mark in the club’s reserve team. By the time he made his first-team debut in May 2021, Nusa had barely turned 16 but already it was clear that his future would not be in Norway.
Sure enough, Nusa had played barely 10 hours’ football for Stabaek, scoring three goals in his 11 appearances, before he was on his way to Club Brugge.
While at Stabaek, Nusa worked with coach Gaute Larsen, who also oversaw Erling Haaland’s development Bryne, another Norwegian club.
If you follow the main European football calendar, it is easy to overlook the Nordic leagues. Many of them run across the summer months when fans’ attention is on the transfer market.
Yet several established talents in Europe’s top five leagues cut their teeth in the Nordic countries – not just global stars like Haaland and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but current Premier League players like Simon Adingra, Mohammed Kudus and Yankuba Minteh.
These clubs are only as good as their scouting networks. The more gems they discover, the more they can invest in their recruitment programmes – a self-sustaining cycle. In Nusa, Stabaek had one of the best, and the £5m they received from Club Brugge in 2021 should ensure their production line operates smoothly for many years.
Data from respected platform FBref has Nusa tracking along similar lines to Jarrod Bowen, although he will be looking to improve on a relatively modest goals and assists record
Football pundit Markus Fjortoft, the son of former Norway forward Jan Age Fjortoft, is optimistic about what might come next for the youngster
The tell-tale signs
To understand how high is Nusa’s ceiling, you don’t even need to watch him play. Instead, look at the list of clubs he’s played for, and which others have tried to sign him.
Club Brugge, RB Leipzig and Brentford are three of the world’s leading clubs for Talent ID. Brugge’s top 10 sales have brought in more than £220million – a huge sum for a club in one of Europe’s middle-ranking leagues.
Leipzig are also brilliant and buying low and selling high and are set to bank £100m for Nusa’s fellow winger Yan Diomande, just a year after signing him for £15m. Before moving to Germany two years ago, Nusa nearly joined Brentford – who are also experts at player trading. Most of Europe would love access to these clubs’ recruitment data so if Nusa is appearing on all their radars, it is a very promising sign.
Nusa’s move to Brentford collapsed in the winter of 2024 due to complications with his medical – but that did not stop Leipzig signing him the following summer.
‘I was 18 at the time, and it was difficult,’ Nusa told website transfermarkt in March 2025. ‘t took some time; I can’t say it was easy. My family and friends were very important in that process.’
In two seasons at Leipzig, Nusa has relatively modest returns. He has 10 goals and 11 assists in 71 appearances in all competitions and Berlin-based Bundesliga expert Mark Meadows believes playing for Norway brings the best from Nusa.
‘Sometimes he looks a world beater but can often go missing in games,’ he said. ‘Having a target like Haaland to aim for from the wing is helping his game.
‘Last season he was eclipsed at RB Leipzig by Diomande’s stunning season. Four Bundesliga goals from Nusa weren’t quite enough but they still made the Champions League.’ In his first campaign alone, Diomande delivered 13 goals and 10 assists – the kind of numbers that move the dial for top clubs, and the kind they will be looking for from Nusa.
‘If you look at his first professional goal against Bodo Glimt (in June 2021), it was very similar to the one he scored against Ivory Coast,’ recalls Markus Fjortoft, host of the excellent Bundesliga programme ‘The Fussball Channel’.
‘He has always had talent and an X Factor. Then it’s a matter of taking the next step and I’d always been curious about whether he can do that from a physical perspective. I think he’s better prepared now than he’s ever been.
‘I predicted before the tournament that Nusa would be our breakout player. There is a difference between his club form and his national team form and he’s gone to another level with Norway.’
Nusa’s move to Brentford collapsed in the winter of 2024 due to complications with his medical – but that did not stop Leipzig signing him the following summer
Nusa will play again in the Champions League next season and that’s the perfect place for him to show what he can do
Premier League bound?
This is the signature move Fjortoft refers to: drifting in from the left, Nusa works the ball on to his right foot and aims for the top corner.
Juventus and Italy great Alessandro Del Piero had an identical trick, as did Dutch winger Arjen Robben, albeit from the opposite side.
Data from respected platform FBref has Nusa tracking along similar lines to Jarrod Bowen, relegated last season with West Ham but an excellent Premier League operator for some time, and Fjortoft – the son of former Norway forward Jan Age Fjortoft – is optimistic about what might come next.
‘Clubs are looking for players who can take on defenders one-on-one and he is willing and able to do that,’ he argues. ‘He can hit these inswinging crosses that create a different angle for Haaland and Alexander Sorloth and they are very difficult to defend.
‘For a long time there was a battle between him and Oscar Bobb for the left-wing spot but he’s won that battle now. He’s special and he has a nice swagger about him, but he needs to reproduce his national team form more regularly at club level.
‘He’ll play again in the Champions League next season and that’s the perfect place for him to show what he can do.’
Stages don’t come much grander than a World Cup last-16 tie against the most successful nation is history. If Nusa can deliver his trademark goal once more, you can be sure he’ll have another celebration up his sleeve.
