First World Cup since 1998
©IMAGO
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Norway’s 4-1 win over Italy is that it wasn’t all that surprising. Despite their glorious history, the Azzurri went into the game as slight underdogs and after the break, Italy’s weaknesses and Norway’s many strengths came to light. It was even less surprising that it was Erling Haaland who turned the equalizer by Leipzig’s Antonio Nusa (69th) into a comfortable lead with his brace within a minute (78th + 79th). The 25-year-old stands like no other for the footballing development that the Løvene have achieved in recent years and which now culminates in their first World Cup participation since 1998.
Haaland’s goal tally for the national team is now 55 goals in 48 games. For comparison: Kylian Mbappé (26) needed 94 games to score 55 goals for France. In qualifying alone, the Manchester City striker scored 16 goals and two assists – in eight games. Only former Bielefeld player Karim Bagheri scored more goals in a World Cup qualification: for Iran before the 1998 World Cup with 18 goals in 13 games. The defender’s opponents at the time included the Maldives, against whom he scored seven times in a 17-0 win in June 1997.
Norway marched to the top of their group without losing a point and with a goal difference of +32. It hasn’t been easy for the country to qualify for major tournaments over the past almost 30 years. If you look at the national team’s results before and after Haaland’s promotion, it quickly becomes clear how big the star striker’s influence is and how much the nation’s success depends on his abilities.
Goal and point balance: Haaland makes Norway better
Norway’s goal tally since Haaland’s debut against Malta in 2019 speaks volumes. While the average goal rate in competitive games remained more or less the same in the first three years with the former Dortmund player and even reached a low point of just 1.17 goals per game in 2022, it has increased impressively from year to year since then. In 2025, Norway scored an average of 4.63 goals per game, thanks in no small part to their outstanding striker. It’s also worth noting that last year’s average of 2.5 goals per game was the Scandinavians’ second-best result in the past 15 years.
Norway have averaged 1.88 goals per game since Haaland’s international debut, a 24 percent increase on their average over the previous seven years. It should certainly not be overlooked that Norway’s current generation can be described as golden. In addition to the Man City star, the squad also includes internationally recognized professionals such as the currently injured Martin Ødegaard (26), the strikers Jørgen Strand Larsen (25) and Alexander Sørloth (28) and great talents such as Oscar Bobb (22), Antonio Nusa (20) and Sverre Nypan (18).
Haaland’s goalscoring qualities and the level to which he has helped raise the team also ensure more points. Norway’s perfect record of three points per game in 2025 is well above all previous ones. Since his debut, Haaland has only lost three European Championship qualifying games, three Nations League games and one World Cup qualifying game out of 38 competitive games. This means that Norway’s points per game average has increased by 68 percent from 1.30 to 2.19 in competitive games in the seven years before Haaland’s debut and in the years since. Before the 2022 World Cup, he missed four games due to injury – there was only one win and ultimately third place behind Turkey and the Netherlands. Now, however, it has worked and with probably the best center forward in the world, coach Ståle Solbakken’s team should also be one to watch out for at the 2026 World Cup.
