Erling Haaland scored two goals to lead Norway to a 4-1 victory over Iraq in their Group I opener at the New England Patriots stadium in Boston on June 16, marking Norway's first World Cup appearance in 28 years [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].
Haaland's goals were his first in a World Cup, making him the first player to score on debut in the Bundesliga, Premier League, Champions League, and World Cup finals combined [3]. Norway coach Stale Solbakken said before the match, "Hopefully we can continue to give him chances and if you give Erling chances, he has a tendency to score" [6]. After the game, Solbakken added, "He liked the occasion, he lived up to the occasion. The occasion wasn't too big for him" [7].
Iraq briefly equalized when Aymen Hussein scored a header in the 39th minute, but Norway pulled away with substitute Leo Ostigard scoring late and Iraq conceding an own goal to complete the margin [1, 2, 3]. Haaland now has 57 international goals in 51 matches and netted 16 goals in 8 World Cup qualifying games—double any other European player's tally [4, 6, 1, 2, 8].
The Norwegian attacking lineup also included Alexander Sorloth and Antonio Nusa in the match [5]. Midfielder Martin Odegaard, Europe’s leading assister during qualifying despite an injury, played a key role in Norway's buildup play [6, 8]. Iraqi coach Graham Arnold, who previously took Australia to the 2022 World Cup last 16, praised the toughness of Iraq's 21-match qualification campaign, which included winning intercontinental playoffs over Bolivia [4, 8].
NORSAR, a seismic monitoring institute in Bergen, Norway, reported tremors coinciding exactly with Haaland's goals, saying, "The largest fluctuations coincide with Erling Braut Haaland's goals, which triggered strong cheers among Norwegian supporters" [9]. Haaland later said, "It's fantastic. Everyone expected us to win and fortunately we did, no banana skins. I don't know what time it is in Norway, but I hope people are partying a bit" [3].
Norway topped Group I after the match, finishing ahead of France on goal difference [1, 3]. Following the victory, coach Solbakken gave the players rest to recover ahead of Norway's next group game against Senegal on June 22 [7].
