Haaland lived up to pressure of World Cup debut – Solbakken

Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.

Erling Haaland proved no stage is too big for him by scoring twice on his World Cup debut, Norway boss Stale Solbakken said after their 4-1 victory over Iraq.

Haaland found the net twice before half-time as Norway marked their return to FIFA’s flagship tournament, which they last participated at in 1998, with a dominant victory.

The Manchester City striker is the first player to score multiple goals in a World Cup match for Norway, while he has now scored in each of his last 11 competitive internationals.

Haaland has scored at least one goal in 17 of his last 20 competitive games for Norway, netting multiple goals in each of his last five, having plundered an astonishing 16 goals in the World Cup qualifiers. 

Asked about Haaland’s impact after Tuesday’s win, Solbakken said: “You can see he lived up to the occasion, it wasn’t too big for him.

“I had a good feeling before the game, the last training session was very good. I had a feeling he would do it for us today.”

Haaland has already tied Kjetil Rekdal as Norway’s all-time leading World Cup goalscorer, with matches against Senegal and France to come in Group I.

But Haaland believes he must do more to prove himself as the world’s outstanding striker, having been outscored at club level by Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane and Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe in 2025-26.

Asked if he felt he was the best striker in the world, Haaland told reporters: “I would say I’m up there, but I don’t think I scored the most goals this season, so statistically no. 

“Kane and Mbappe scored more goals than me, and that’s the reality.

“It’s about continuing and not thinking too much. It’s difficult at this stage. But I’ll focus on the next game and of course be happy. But also, I’ll stay calm.”

11 – Erling Haaland has scored in his last 11 competitive appearances for Norway dating back to November 2024.

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) June 16, 2026

Norway had never previously scored three or more goals in a World Cup or Euros match, in 12 attempts, but with Haaland leading the way, Iraq’s head coach Graham Arnold expects them to do well at this tournament. 

“He’s just an amazing number nine,” Arnold said of Haaland. “We dealt with him quite well for a lot of the game, but at the end of the day, he’s a top striker.

“I just said to him [at full-time], ‘You’re one of the best number nines I’ve ever seen.’ He’s so strong, so quick and he’s just lethal. Norway could shock a lot of people with the team they have. They could go a very long way.”

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