Norway waited 28 years to get back to the World Cup, and Erling Haaland needed less than half an hour to take over.
The Manchester City striker scored twice on his tournament debut on Tuesday, powering Norway to a 4-1 win over Iraq in Boston. They were the first World Cup goals of his career, at a tournament Norway had not reached since 1998 — two years before Haaland was even born.
What he may not have known is that he was joining a small and fast-growing club. Three other players had already scored twice on their own World Cup debuts in the previous four days, and Haaland made it four.
Erling Haaland the latest to repeat Folarin Balogun World Cup feat
The run started on Friday, when Folarin Balogun scored twice for the United States in a statement win over Paraguay.
On Sunday, Sweden’s Yasin Ayari did the same on his first World Cup appearance. New Zealand’s Elijah Just followed on Monday, and then came Haaland.
Haaland is comfortably the biggest name of the four, and he did not need long. He tapped in inside 29 minutes, then nipped in front of a hesitant Iraq defender to restore Norway’s lead just before halftime.
Haaland scored twice on his World Cup debut for Norway, but how many goals will he finish the tournament with?
He now has 57 goals in 51 appearances for his country…
Asked afterward whether he was now the world’s best goalscorer, the 25-year-old was measured.
He told ESPN: “I would say I’m up there.”
He then pointed out that he had not even scored the most goals in club football this past season, concluding: “Harry Kane and [Kylian] Mbappé scored more goals than me and that’s the reality.”
While that may be true, there are many who would claim the Norwegian is the most natural, lethal goalscorer at the tournament.
His coach, Stale Solbakken, had fewer reservations, saying the occasion “wasn’t too big for him.”
Is any?
- READ MORE: FIFA’s ‘clean stadium’ World Cup policy reaches new painstaking extremes for Iraq vs Norway
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