Man City World Cup 2026 Watch: Erling Haaland stars in Norway’s opening game victory over Iraq

Erling Haaland marked his World Cup debut with a stellar brace for Norway in their Group I opener, resulting in a 1-3 win against Iraq.

The Manchester City striker enjoyed a fairytale World Cup debut on Tuesday night, devastating an energetic Iraq side with a clinical first-half brace to guide Norway to a resounding 1-4 victory at Boston Stadium.

Ending their country’s 28-year absence from the world stage, Ståle Solbakken’s men took the lead inside the opening half-hour when a David Møller Wolfe cross found the ever-lethal Erling Haaland sliding in at the back post.

While Iraq responded with a thunderous equaliser courtesy of their play-off hero Aymen Hussein, their momentum was extinguished just moments later as goalkeeper Jalal Hassan dawdled inside his own six-yard box, allowing Haaland to charge down an attempted clearance and watch a deflection bounce into the empty net – taking his international record to 57 goals in 51 outings.

Iraq continued to threaten another equaliser through near-misses from Ibrahim Bayesh and Akam Hashim.

However the European side slammed the door shut on any comeback in the second half as substitute Leo Østigård rose highest to glance home a Martin Ødegaard corner on 76 minutes, before a stoppage-time own goal consolidated a heavy scoreline.

Erling Haaland match statistics vs Iraq

90 Minutes
2 Goals
20 Touches
6 Shots (Most)
6 Touches In Opposition Box (Most)
4 Shots On Target
4 Accurate Passes
4 Ground Duels Won
3 Was Fouled
3 Aerial Duels Won
2 Recoveries
2 Big Chances Missed
1 Clearance
1 Chance Created
1 Successful Dribble

Data courtesy of FotMob.