Erling Haaland shines with brace in Norway's World Cup victory over Iraq

Image

Norway launched its first World Cup since 1998 perfectly by winning 4-1 against Iraq, thanks in particular to a double from prodigy Erling Haaland in the first half of his debut on the world stage. From the first minutes, Norway dominated possession but struggled to worry the opposing goalkeeper until the 29th minute. It was then that David Møller Wolfe collected a ball in the Iraqi camp before crossing from the left flank towards Haaland, who blasted goalkeeper Jalal Hassan with a powerful shot. Iraq quickly equalized with a header from Aymen Hussein. But Haaland was quick to respond, taking advantage of an Iraqi restart error to recover the ball and score his second goal, restoring the advantage to Norway. In the second half, the Scandinavian team controlled the match before Leo Østigard sealed the fate of the match with a header from a corner in the 76th minute. A late own goal from Iraq made it 4-1 in favor of Norway. The victory puts Norway at the top of Group I, tied with France, but ahead in number of goals scored after France's 3-1 victory over Senegal. The Norwegians will face Senegal on Monday, before concluding their group stage against France on June 26.