FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Erling Haaland took just 29 minutes to score his first ever World Cup goal on his tournament debut against Iraq on Tuesday. By the end, he had scored twice in a convincing 4-1 victory and delivered on his tag as one of this tournament’s biggest stars.
Haaland, 25, has been one of the world’s most prolific strikers since he burst onto the scene in 2019, but he was made to wait until now to play at a World Cup, with Norway failing to qualify since 1998.
He spoke exclusively to ESPN ahead of the tournament, saying how something felt “missing” for most of his career, which has seen him win a slew of major titles for Manchester City.
“It felt missing in 2022 in Qatar and also in the Euros in 2024. So now it finally happened, and it was about time,” he said.
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On Tuesday, he quickly made up for lost time.
His first goal came immediately after the hydration break as he converted a low cross from David Møller Wolfe.
Iraq briefly levelled the scores with a well-taken Aymed Hussein header, but shortly after Haaland jumped on a mistake from Iraq goalkeeper Jalal Hassan, who looked to play the ball out from the back but could only watch as the Norway striker beat him to the ball and tapped past him into an empty net.
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Haaland has already equalled the Norwegian record for most World Cup goals, previously belonging to midfielder Kjetil Rekdal.
He will get at least two more chances to add to his tally in Norway’s final two group games. They play Senegal in New Jersey on June 22 before returning to Foxborough to take on France on June 26.
