Norway Crush Iraq 4-1 As Haaland Lights Up World Cup Bow
Erling Haaland marked his maiden World Cup appearance with two goals as Norway swept aside Iraq 4-1 in their Group I opener in Boston on Tuesday, ending a 28-year absence from football’s biggest stage in emphatic fashion.
The Manchester City striker turned in a low cross from David Moller Wolfe on 29 minutes to open the scoring, before Aymen Hussein levelled with a header for Iraq. Haaland restored Norway’s lead just before the break, chasing down a weak backpass, nipping ahead of goalkeeper Jalal Hassan and tapping home. The double took his international tally to 57 goals in 51 matches, an extraordinary strike rate for a player who turns 26 next month.
Substitute Leo Ostigard headed in Martin Odegaard’s corner on 76 minutes to wrap up the points, and Hussein turned a looping Haaland header into his own net deep in stoppage time to complete the rout.
The result is loaded with history for a nation whose pedigree has long outstripped its tournament appearances. Norway have reached only three previous World Cups, in 1938, 1994 and 1998, with the campaign in France remaining their most celebrated, featuring a famous 2-1 group-stage defeat of Brazil. Coach Stale Solbakken was part of that squad, lending the current run a sense of generational continuity.
Solbakken’s side reached North America after a commanding qualifying campaign in which they twice defeated Italy, including a 4-1 win in November 2025. Haaland scored 16 goals in European qualifying to power Norway to their first World Cup since 1998. With Odegaard orchestrating from midfield, the so-called golden generation now carries genuine expectation.
For Iraq, the night marked the close of one of the most arduous qualifying journeys in the tournament’s history. They booked the 48th and final berth in March after a 21-match campaign spanning 867 days, returning to the finals for the first time since 1986. Hussein’s equaliser was only Iraq’s second-ever World Cup goal and their first in 40 years. The forward, who scored the decisive goal in the play-off win over Bolivia, had earlier been held and questioned for around seven hours by US immigration officials on arrival with the squad.
Iraq showed admirable spirit despite the scoreline, with Akam Hashim lashing a volley narrowly over and Ali Al-Hamadi dragging an effort wide. Their previous and only finals appearance, in Mexico 1986, ended in three group-stage defeats.
The win lifted Norway to the top of Group I on goal difference, level on three points with France, who earlier beat Senegal 3-1. Senegal’s attacking trio of Ismaila Sarr, Nicolas Jackson and Sadio Mane troubled the 2018 champions before fading.
Norway next face Senegal on June 22 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, while France meet Iraq in Philadelphia. A second win would put Solbakken’s men in commanding position to reach the knockout rounds, where Norway have not ventured since that golden summer of 1998.