New Delhi: Manchester star striker Erling Haaland helped Norway kick off the World Cup qualifying campaign on a winning note, having scored in Norway’s 5-0 victory over Moldova on Saturday.
Norway’s third and only World Cup appearance was in 1998, two years before Haaland was even born and now the 24-year-old leads a team that includes Arsenal player Martin Odegaard and has high hopes of reaching the 2026 tournament in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
The Scandinavians are favourites to win Group I, which also saw Israel defeat Estonia 2-1 in the first round. Jilian Ryerson started the scoring just five minutes into the game, followed by Erling Halland’s strike in the 23rd minute. Later, Thelo Aasgaard, Alexander Sorloth, and Aron Donnum also contributed to the 5-0 scoreline.
With that goal, Haaland took his exceptional career haul to 39 goals in 40 appearances for his country since his debut in 2019. The City’s forward already knows what it feels like to win the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup with Manchester City but he has yet to lead his country to a major tournament.
4⃣0⃣ Norway caps 🧢
3⃣9⃣ Norway goals 🎯Erling Haaland is unstoppable 🦾🇳🇴 pic.twitter.com/5OIehUVHiu
— LiveScore (@livescore) March 22, 2025
Injury kept the Norwegian out of a few matches in 2022, during Norway’s unsuccessful qualifying campaign for the World Cup. Norway also failed to qualify for the 2024 European Championship, finishing third behind Spain and Scotland in a disappointing campaign.
European qualifying roundup
In other fixtures, Wales secured a 3-1 victory over Kazakhstan in Cardiff as they aim for a second consecutive World Cup appearance. In Group J, North Macedonia cruised to a 3-0 win against Liechtenstein.
Meanwhile, in Group L, Patrik Schick netted twice to help the Czech Republic edge past the Faroe Islands 2-1 while Montenegro staged a comeback to claim a 3-1 triumph over Gibraltar.
With the tournament expanding to 48 teams, Europe will have 16 spots at next year’s World Cup in North America. These will be allocated to the 12 group winners along with four additional teams advancing through a playoff among the runners-up. The European qualifiers group stage will continue until November.
Haaland scores in Norway’s dominant 5-0 win over Moldova in World Cup qualifier. Can the star striker lead his nation to their first World Cup since 1998? Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
