Erling Haaland opened his World Cup account with a brace on his tournament debut as Norway rolled past Iraq 4-1 in Boston.
Norway, appearing in the tournament for the first time in 28 years, took the lead after 29 minutes as Sander Berge played David Moller Wolfe in on the left of the penalty area and his low cross was turned in at the back post by Haaland.
Moments later, the Manchester City striker almost turned provider after latching on to Antonio Nusa’s fine pass and feeding Alexander Sorloth, whose shot was well blocked, with Arsenal midfielder Martin Odegaard firing wide as Norway continued to dominate.
Iraq dealt a sucker-punch on the counter attack after 39 minutes. Ali Jasim played a clever reverse pass to Amir Al-Ammari and from his cross, Aymen Hussein planted a header low into the bottom corner.
It was a brilliant moment for the striker, who endured almost seven hours of questioning by US authorities on his arrival at O’Hare airport last week, and sparked wild celebrations on the pitch and in the stands.
But Iraq were level for just four minutes as goalkeeper Jalal Hassan failed to deal with a weak back pass and only succeeded in launching his clearance against Haaland, with the ball ricocheting into the net.
Iraq almost drew level in first-half stoppage time as Ali Al Hamadi was played through one-on-one, only to see Kristoffer Ajer’s last-ditch block steer his effort narrowly wide, before Akam Hashim’s volley from the edge of the box flew narrowly over the bar.
After the break, Hussein headed wide and Hussein Ali fired over as Iraq threatened an equaliser, only for Leo Ostigard to rise highest and head in an Odegaard corner after 76 minutes to put the result beyond doubt.
Hassan denied Haaland his hat-trick with a good close-range save, but was powerless to prevent a fourth in stoppage-time.
Again Haaland was involved, heading the ball across the face of goal for Kristian Thorstvedt, who bundled it home – but the goal went down as a Hussein own goal as he attempted without avail to keep it out of his own net.
The result leaves Norway top of Group I, having underlined their status as dark horses in a group also containing 2022 runners-up France and Senegal, with the former winning 3-1 in their clash on Tuesday.
PA
