The match finished all square at 22-22 at the end of the 70 minutes before Norway eventually emerged with a 28-25 triumph.

Goals in the additional period from Eivind Tangen, Kent Robin Tonnesen and captain Bjarte Myrhol ensured the Scandinavian side would get the chance to compete for the world title against hosts and defending champions France on Sunday (January 29).

Myrhol top scored for Norway with six, while Zlatko Horvat scored the same amount for Croatia, who will go up against Slovenia for bronze tomorrow.

“It’s so huge for us, we’ve never been there before,” Norway goalkeeper Torbjorn Bergerud said.

“It’s unbelievable, we lost to Croatia in the European Championships bronze medal match last year.

“It’s going to be a really tough match but now we are in the final it’s going to be a special match [against France].

“There are going to be many people in the arena.

“I can’t speak it’s just amazing to be in the finals.”

Croatia, winners of the 2003 World Championships, started the brighter of the two teams and opened up a 6-4 lead midway through the first half.

Norway hit back to level the match at 8-8 and they then turned the contest on its head with three unanswered goals.

The topsy-turvy nature of a defensive semi-final continued as Croatia restored parity at 13-13 and then moved into an 18-16 advantage.

Norway levelled once again to set up a tense finale and they had Bergerud to thank for saving a penalty seconds before the buzzer, leaving extra time as the only way to decide who would go on to face France.

After the two nations traded goals, Tangen crucially put Norway 26-25 ahead before Tonnesen and Myrhol got in on the act late on to seal a superb win for the Scandinavian team.