Erling Haaland’s maiden FIFA World Cup edition is turning out to be a glittering one as the Norwegian striker has expectedly been the protagonist for the team. Haaland made his World Cup debut against Iraq and scored a brace to power his team to a 4-1 win. He backed that up with another stellar performance against Senegal, scoring twice again as the Vikings romped home 3-2 to book a place in the knockouts on their return to the stage after 28 years.
Haaland doubled Norway’s lead in the 48th minute after Marcus Pedersen put them ahead in the 43rd minute. Haaland pounced on Martin Odegaard’s pass to smash a left-foot strike past the outstretched left hand of goalkeeper Edouard Mendy. The 25-year-old then doubled his match goal tally with a strike from around eight yards after he made his way through the Senegal defence to put his right foot into the back of the net.ย
Haaland only second after Kane to huge record
The brace saw Haaland become just the second player in the last 52 years to score on his first two appearances at a FIFA World Cup, joining England captain Harry Kane, who achieved the feat in 2018. Overall, he is just the sixth player to do so since the World Cup began in 1930. He joins the elite list that features Guillermo Stabile, Sรกndor Kocsis, Just Fontaine, Grzegorz Lato and Kane.ย
Players to score multiple goals in first two WC appearances:
1930 – Guillermo Stabile (first 3)
1954 –ย Sรกndor Kocsis (first 4)
1958 –ย Just Fontaine
1974 –ย Grzegorz Lato
2018 –ย Harry Kane
2026 – Erling Haaland
Norway through to the knockouts
Norway have confirmed their spot in the knockouts from Group I, as have France, after their win over Iraq. The two teams have six points each from their opening two matches and face each other for a top spot in their last league stage outings.ย
Meanwhile, Senegal have lost their first two matches in a World Cup for the first time after having lost to France in their opener. They now need to beat Iraq to have any chance of progressing to the next stage.
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