Sunrise had arrived in Oslo and on the hill topped by the Royal Palace, there were thousands unwilling to let go. Of the night, of the moment, of a World Cup adventure.Fireworks and flares were let off and music blared from portable speakers to attract more and more to a boisterous 3am scene. They kept on singing and rowing as though Norway had just won their quarter-final in Miami. That it had been England appeared a minor detail.This has been one of Norway’s great months and reaching the end of the line was as much cause for pride as dejection across the capital.A nation populated by 5.6million people had made waves in coming this far, first by beating Ivory Coast in the knockouts and then Brazil through Erling Haaland’s fine brace. England had been a step too far in Norway’s first World Cup since 1998 but the masses on Oslo’s streets — an estimated 150,000 people — rejoiced all the same.Norway fans do the famous Viking row in Oslo while waiting for entry to a public screening before the match (Reuters/Leonhard Foeger)“This team has brought the whole country together,” says Vegard Ergan, watching the fan zone empty from the City Hall steps. He had travelled 60 miles with friends and family to feel the buzz in Norway’s capital.“Only football can do this. Not skiing. There has been so much joy. I saw the 1998 win against Brazil (at the France World Cup) and it was something like this but for one evening. It has been like this for 14 days.”Also in that travelling group was 16-year-old Linus. “A lot of people who had never watched football started to watch this team and that is great. But right now I feel like we have a whole country that is going to be disappointed for two or three days.”Norway will mourn the moments that blocked their path; the disallowed goal from Torbjorn Heggem in the second half and David Moller Wolfe’s header against the bar. There were also suspicions England’s equaliser had involved the ball clipping an overhead cable.Norway had a goal disallowed after a VAR intervention (Reuters/Paul Childs)Fortune was not a friend but one extra-time defeat was not about to undermine what has been a transformative month. One of the Royal Palace guards, on duty for the evening, puffed out his cheeks when asked what the scene below would have looked like with a Norway win. “They would not go home,” he said.