Norway reached the World Cup for the first time since 1998, ending years of near misses. Erling Haaland powered qualifying with eight wins out of eight, including home and away defeats of Italy. Norway’s squad was announced by King Harald V, emphasizing the long wait to return. Haaland scored five goals and added two assists in an 11-1 win over Moldova, and he netted a hat-trick in a 5-0 victory over Israel. He became the fastest player to reach 50 international goals in 46 appearances. His club form included winning the Premier League golden boot with 27 goals and reaching 100 Premier League goals in 111 matches. Concerns center on fitness, freshness, and whether enough creativity exists behind him.
"Led by superstar forward Erling Haaland, Norway impressed in qualifying to reach their first World Cup since 1998. Previous World Cup appearances: 3 Best performance: Last 16 (1938, 1998) First appearance: 1938 (France) Top goal scorer: Kjetil Rekdal (2) Most appearances: Henning Berg, Stig Inge Bjornebye, Kjetil Rekdal (7) Player to watch: Erling Haaland FIFA world ranking: 31 Norway have not played at a World Cup since 1998, as a generation of fans has had to endure a series of near misses and damp squibs."
"This Norway side, however, powered by the superstar Erling Haaland alongside a bunch of other huge talents, stormed their qualifying group with eight wins out of eight, including giving Italy home and away drubbings. Not only are the Scandinavian nation finally back at the World Cup, this time they aim to go far if not all the way. The squad was announced on Thursday in a video by the country's King Harald V, who said the country has waited a long time to return to the World Cup."
"The Man City striker ran rampant in qualifying, scoring five goals and grabbing two assists in a 11-1 mauling of Moldova. He also scored a hat-trick in Norway's 5-0 thrashing of Israel, becoming the fastest player in history to reach 50 international goals, which he scored in just 46 appearances. Haaland's domestic season has produced another bumper tally of goals, even if they came in fits and starts he won the Premier League's golden boot again with 27 goals."
"The 25 year old also became the fastest player to reach 100 Premier League goals, scored in just 111 appearances. Haaland also has an added personal inspiration in this tournament as his father played in the last US World Cup, back in 1994. The only concerns will be his fitness and freshness after a long and gruelling season, and whether he has enough creativity behind him to he"
#world-cup-qualification #norway-national-team #erling-haaland #international-football #premier-league
Read at www.aljazeera.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]