Erling Haaland announced his arrival on the biggest football stage with braces as Norway defeated Iraq 4-1 in their first game 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The Manchester City striker produced another memorable debut performance, continuing a trend that has followed him throughout his career.
Having previously scored on his Champions League, Bundesliga and Premier League debuts, Haaland marked his first World Cup appearance with two goals to inspire Norway to victory.
The result gave Norway a strong start to their campaign and highlighted their potential to become one of the surprise packages of the tournament.
Haaland leads Norway
Haaland opened the scoring just before the half-hour mark, sliding in and converting David Moller Wolfe’s low cross to score Norway’s first goal in a World Cup final since 1998.
Iraq responded through Aymen Hussein, whose powerful header leveled the teams and briefly threatened to disrupt Norway’s momentum.
However, Haaland restored Norway’s lead after the break when he capitalized on a defensive error, denying goalkeeper Jalal Hassan’s clearance and seeing the ball roll into the net.
Norway added two more goals for a comfortable victory, while Haaland came close to completing a hat-trick on several occasions.
Praise is pouring in for the Norwegian star
Norwegian coach Stale Solbakken praised his star after the game.
“You can see he rose to the occasion – it wasn’t too big for him,” Solbakken said.
“I had a good feeling before the game, the last practice was very good. I had a feeling that he would do it for us today.”
Iraq coach Graham Arnold also acknowledged Haaland’s influence.
“He’s just an amazing number nine. We dealt with him pretty well for a lot of the game but at the end of the day he’s a top striker,” Arnold said.
Speaking to the forward after the match, Arnold added: “I just said to him, ‘You’re one of the best nines I’ve ever seen.’ He’s so strong, so fast and he’s just deadly.”
Those goals took Haaland’s international tally to 57 goals in just 51 appearances for Norway, highlighting his outstanding scoring record.
