Erling Haaland was the hero as Norway recorded a 2-1 win over the Ivory Coast in the World Cup Round of 32.
The Manchester City No.9 was in the right place at the right time to prod a cross from Patrick Berg beyond Yahia Fofana in the 86th minute, after goals from Antonio Nusa and Amad Diallo had left the scoreline nicely poised at 1-1.
As Haaland watched the ball roll over the line after a fairly unconvincing finish by his lofty standards, the Norway international actually made history as he became the quickest footballer to reach 60 international goals.
That man Erling Haaland does it again as Norway beat Ivory Coast to set up a tie with Brazil where he will face Gabriel 👀 Who comes out on top and why?
Haaland has scored in 13 consecutive internationals and has 60 goals from 53 appearances for his country 😲
Erling Haaland leapfrogs Ferenc Puskas to make international football history
In scoring the winner against the African giants, Haaland notched his 60th goal for Norway in just 53 appearances.
The man born in Leeds therefore snatches the crown from Ferenc Puskas, who had previously held that title by netting 60 goals in 63 appearances for Hungary.
To beat the record by ten games is some doing from Haaland – who gave Travis Scott a gift at the World Cup – to say the least.
| Player | Appearances taken to reach 60 official senior international goals |
|---|---|
| Erling Haaland | 53 |
| Ferenc Puskas | 63 |
| Ali Daei | 69 |
With a remarkable tally of 299 goals in 385 appearances at club level – along with 67 assists – the former Borussia Dortmund striker can already be regarded as a great at the age of just 25.
Martin Odegaard joins exclusive club with assist for Antonio Nusa
Haaland – who ignored an invite from Tom Holland – was not the only one to make a bit of football history in this Round of 32 clash, as Martin Odegaard also got himself in the record books.
The Arsenal No.8 provided the assist for Nusa to open the scoring, and in doing so, became just the third player since records began (1966) to set up a goal in each of their first three World Cup appearances.
Only Michael Ballack and Igor Belanov had previously managed to accomplish this feat, doing so for Germany at the 2002 World Cup and for the USSR at the 1986 World Cup respectively.
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