Inter - Bodø/glimt: Bodo/Glimt stun Inter Milan to reach Champions League last 16
In the inter - bodø/glimt tie on Feb 24, 2026, Bodo/Glimt beat Inter Milan 2-1 at San Siro to complete a 5-2 aggregate and reach the Champions League last 16 for the first time, a result that capped a run of shocks including wins over Manchester City and Atletico Madrid in the group phase.
San Siro night: two goals seal a historic qualification
Bodo/Glimt repelled a string of first-half Inter attacks at San Siro on Feb 24, 2026 before scoring twice around the hour mark to win the second leg 2-1. Jens Petter Hauge opened the scoring with his sixth goal in the competition this season, then set up Hakon Evjen for a second strike that left Serie A leaders with too much to do on the night.
Inter - Bodø/glimt: the scoreline and the aggregate
Winners 2-1 on the night and 5-2 on aggregate, Bodo/Glimt secured a place in the Champions League last 16 for the first time. The Norwegian side had taken a 3-1 lead from the first leg, and the two-match margin proved decisive against Cristian Chivu's Inter Milan, a club that has won the competition three times and was beaten by Paris St-Germain in the final of this competition just over nine months ago.
How Hauge and Evjen finished off Inter
Jens Petter Hauge, back in the San Siro where he spent two years with AC Milan, scored the opener and provided the assist for Hakon Evjen's lovely finish. Hauge's sixth Champions League goal this season is the most ever by a Norwegian player for a Norwegian club in a single edition of the European Cup/Champions League.
Historic landmarks and the long odds
Kjetil Knutsen described the result as "a historical moment for Bodo and I think also for Norwegian football. " Bodo/Glimt are the first Norwegian side to progress in a knockout-stage tie in the Champions League and the first overall in the European Cup since Lillestrom in 1987-88. They are also the first team from outside Europe's big five leagues to win four consecutive games in a European Cup/Champions League campaign against opponents from those leagues since Ajax in 1971-72, who went on to win the European Cup that season.
From Arctic winters to major arenas
Based around 70 miles into the Arctic Circle, Bodo/Glimt have become renowned for a fairytale run that survived a rough start: the team failed to win their first six league phase games and were left needing results against Manchester City and Atletico Madrid to qualify for the play-offs. Their visits to Borussia Dortmund and Atlético Madrid, and victories over Manchester City and Atletico Madrid in the league phase, helped build belief ahead of the San Siro tie.
Inter’s pre-match concerns and likely line-up notes
Before the second leg, Inter had faced a 3–1 deficit to overturn at San Siro. Lautaro Martínez had picked up a calf injury in the first leg and would not be available for the home match. Marcus Thuram was expected to partner Pio Esposito in Martínez's absence. Federico Dimarco, an unused substitute in the Arctic Circle first leg, was described as a certainty to start the second leg. Piotr Zieliński was slotted to operate at the base of midfield in Hakan Çalhanoğlu's absence, while Nicolo Barella was set to return to Cristian Chivu's engine room after missing Inter's 2-0 victory over Lecce on the Saturday before the tie. Observers noted that when Antonio Conte was appointed Inter boss in 2019 he wanted to rid the Nerazzurri of their "pazza" ("crazy") tag, a context in which Chivu was urged to embrace the chaos presented by the surprise package of the competition.
After the match, Hauge said: "It sounds not true, but we are there, among the last teams in the competition, " and added that it would be "really exciting to see what the next two games bring. "
Bodo/Glimt will now discover their last-16 opponent: they are scheduled to face either Manchester City or Sporting in the Champions League last 16. Recovery plans, squad preparations and the draw for the last 16 are the confirmed next steps on their European calendar.
