Haaland's double, four goals for Norway

Norway beat Iraq 4-1 to open their 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign with an emphatic win in Group I. At Gillette Stadium, Erling Haaland left his mark with two goals, making a stellar start to his World Cup.

Norway opened the scoring in the 29th minute, when Haaland finished off a Wolfe pass to put his side 1-0 up. Iraq responded quickly: in the 39th minute, Aymen Hussein levelled at 1-1 from an Al Ammari assist. But the parity did not last long; in the 43rd minute, Haaland scored his second to send Norway in 2-1 ahead at the break.

In the second half, Norway took full control. In the 76th minute, Leo Østigard doubled the cushion from a Martin Ødegaard assist to make it 1-3. There was an unfortunate moment late on: in the 90+7th minute, Aymen Hussein turned the ball into his own net to make it 1-4, as Norway ran out comfortable winners.

The statistics clearly underlined Norway's superiority. Ståle Solbakken's side had 61% possession, took 13 shots and finished ahead on expected goals (xG) 2.52 to 0.76, leading on big chances 5-1. Back at a World Cup after 40 years, Iraq took hope from Hussein's goal but could not resist Norway's attacking power.

Refereed by Gabon's Pierre Atcho, the match saw Norway take all three points for a strong start to the group. Having completed qualifying with eight wins in eight, Norway showed they have carried that surge into the World Cup. Haaland, meanwhile, laid down an early marker in the Golden Boot race. For Iraq, it was a night that began well but ended badly, as they left their first match with nothing.

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