As expected, Norwegian star Erling Haaland officially announced himself on the world stage with a first-half brace against Iraq in Boston.
One of the players at the 2026 World Cup who continues to attract attention, and rightly so: the Manchester City goal machine produced a typical performance in the final third in service to his country.
After a brilliant qualifying campaign in which Haaland topped the goalscoring charts, the 25-year-old scored twice with two typically match-winning goals in the first 45 minutes against a determined Iraq who demanded everything from Ståle Solbakken.
This means Haaland, who now has 57 goals in 51 international appearances for his country, has overtaken two iconic names in the same move and left behind Samuel Eto’o (56) and Gabriel Batistuta (56) as all-time international scorers (according to StatMuse).
Haaland now has 25 goals in his last 11 appearances for Norway and continues his triumphant march through the world’s greatest sport at all levels of competition.
And for a player who averages 1.12 international goals per game – more than Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Suárez combined (1.11) – if he maintains this form this summer, it could be a big step for him and he could steal the spotlight from Kylian Mbappé.
📸 Justin Setterfield – 2026 Getty Images