World Cup: Norway beats Iraq with Erling Haaland

Opening game of Group I

Double pack Haaland: Norway celebrates opening victory

Erling Haaland made his first mark on the tournament right in his first World Cup game. The superstar led his team to victory.

The Norwegian national team started the World Cup in Group I with a 4-1 (2-1) win against Iraq. The man of the evening in Foxborough (USA) was Norway’s superstar Erling Haaland. In his first World Cup game ever, the 25-year-old scored twice. In addition to Haaland (29th minute, 43rd), Leo Östigaard (77th) scored for the Scandinavians and Iraq’s Ayman Hussein scored an own goal (90th + 7th). The outsider’s interim 1-1 was also scored by Hussein (39th).

Before kick-off, expert Thomas Müller raved about the “golden generation” of Norwegians on MagentaTV. In the flawless World Cup qualification, record scorer Haaland had underlined his exceptional position in the Landslaget with 16 goals in eight wins. Now the former Dortmund player played in Foxborough in front of his father Alf-Inge Haaland – who was himself a World Cup player for Norway in the USA in 1994.

With the Bundesliga duo Julian Ryerson (Borussia Dortmund) and Antonio Nusa (RB Leipzig) in the starting line-up, the Norwegians also managed to get Haaland on the ball as quickly as possible. But the underdog didn’t hide either and scored the first shot on goal through Ali Al-Hamadi (13th).

But after the first obligatory drinking break, the goal machine was oiled: After a nice move down the left, David Möller crossed Wolfe to the second post, and Haaland, who had run in, pushed the ball over the line from close range.

But Iraq didn’t give up in front of 63,106 spectators, on the contrary. Norway’s defense left far too much space, and Hussein completed a strong attack with a header for Iraq’s second goal in World Cup history. Then the bitter faux pas followed at the back: After a back pass from Zaid Tahseen that was too short, the rushing Haaland put the keeper Jalal Hassan under pressure; when he tried to clear the ball, he shot at the attacker and the ball bounced into the goal.

After the break there was a similar picture, with not much of the expected class difference to be seen. The underdog didn’t give up, an extremely difficult World Cup qualification made the team resilient – and not just because of the effects of the war in the Middle East. The qualifying marathon lasted 21 games until they became the 48th and last nation to book their ticket to the XXL finals. And then they defended themselves with a lot of passion on the big stage – but superstar Haaland and Co. were too ripped off in the end.

The Iraqis also had to cope with a moment of shock. Ali Jasim required lengthy treatment after a collision with Nusa midway through the second half and the attacker was eventually carried out of the stadium on a stretcher. In addition to Norway and Iraq, France and Senegal are represented in Group I. The French defeated the Africans 3-1 in their opening game.