Norway gave Italy a bad false start into the World Cup qualification – with three goals before the break. Germany benefits from the result.
The Norwegians won 3-0 (3-0) in Oslo on Friday by the goals of the Bundesliga -proven Alexander Sörloth (14th), Antonio Nusa (34th) and Erling Haaland (42.). While it was only the start of the National League games for the National League games in the qualification tournament for the 2026 World Cup, Norway already has three games on the account with the maximum yield of nine points.
The favorite Italians presented themselves surprisingly disorderly and prone to errors in Oslo, while Norway punished the mistakes ice cold – among other things with the remarkable shot from Nusa in 2-0. The break was a bit too high, but also in the second round the hosts were the slightly better team and the 4: 0 closer than the Italians.
Remote duel with Germany in the world rankings
Italy’s defeat has advantages for Germany, because the two nations have a remote duel around ninth place in the world rankings and thus a better starting position for the group draw for the XXL tournament in the USA, Canada and Mexico. Anyone who is located in Lost pot 1 avoids teams such as world champion Argentina, European champion Spain, France or Brazil.
A group with the co-host Mexico set is also unpopular due to the expected heat. Italy is currently in ninth place in front of Germany. The team of national coach Julian Nagelsmann will meet Slovakia, Northern Ireland and Luxembourg from September.
Norway now in Estonia
For Norway, the away game in Estonia continues on Monday at 8:45 p.m. Italy has a guest at the same time Moldau. The group winner of the group of five, in which Israel also plays, qualifies directly for the World Cup. The group of group still has a chance of the playoffs. Italy missed the past two world championships.