Haaland bags brace in World Cup debut: Norway crushes Iraq 4-1

Norway hadn't seen a World Cup since '98. Erling Haaland? Never played one. Didn't matter much on Wednesday night.

First 28 minutes: crickets. Haaland's only real sniff, a header over the bar. Then he got bored. Tapped in a square ball from David Moller Wolfe, the Wolves defender. That's 51 goals in 56 Norway games. Also his 11th straight competitive match scoring for the country, going back to November 2024. Just like that, his World Cup account was open. Sky Sports says so.

Iraq, credit where it's due, hit back. Aymen Hussein — who'd apparently spent seven hours answering questions from US authorities upon arrival earlier this month — headed one in. Their second World Cup goal ever. First in 40 years. It leveled the score.

That equalizer? Faded fast. Just before the break, Haaland was on a weak back-pass from Zaid Tahseen like a hawk. Beat Jalal Hassan to it. Second goal, easy tap-in.

Second half was a snoozer, mostly. Until Leo Ostigard, off the bench, strolled onto a Martin Odegaard corner and headed it in with 14 minutes left. Unchallenged, naturally. Deep into stoppage time, Haaland rose for a header. Poor Hussein, in the wrong place, deflected it over the line. Own goal. That made it 4-1. Haaland managed all that carnage on a mere 20 touches the whole 90 minutes. Sky Sports pointed that out, good for them.

Norway leads Group I on goal difference. France sits level on points after their own 3-1 win against Senegal earlier.