Erling Haaland announced his arrival on the World Cup stage with a brace as Norway cruised to a commanding 4-1 victory over Iraq in their opening Group I clash.
The Manchester City striker wasted little time making his mark on football’s biggest stage, breaking the deadlock in the 28th minute shortly after the first-half cooling break.
However, Iraq responded strongly when captain Aymen Hussein powered home an impressive header 10 minutes later to restore parity.
The equaliser proved short-lived as Haaland struck again before the break, capitalising on a costly mistake by goalkeeper Jalal Hassan.
Under pressure from the Norwegian forward, Hassan’s attempted clearance ricocheted off Haaland and into the net, restoring Norway’s advantage in the 42nd minute.
The second goal saw Haaland draw level with Kjetil Rekdal as Norway’s joint-highest scorer at World Cup finals, achieving the feat in less than a full half of football.
Norway remained in control after the restart and put the result beyond doubt in the 75th minute when Leo Østigård rose highest to head in a Martin Ødegaard corner.
The Scandinavians added a fourth deep into stoppage time. Haaland’s header across goal forced an unfortunate touch from Hussein, who diverted the ball into his own net to complete a miserable ending for Iraq.
Haaland’s two-goal performance came just hours after France captain Kylian Mbappé also netted twice in Les Bleus’ 3-1 victory over Senegal.
Mbappé’s double made him France’s all-time leading World Cup scorer and moved him within two goals of Miroslav Klose’s tournament record of 16.
Norway will next face Senegal on June 23, while Iraq will attempt to bounce back against France a day earlier.
