KATHMANDU: Star striker Erling Haaland scored twice on his tournament debut to lead Norway to a convincing 4-1 victory over Iraq in their Group I opener at the FIFA World Cup 2026.

This marks a monumental milestone for Norway, who are playing in their very first World Cup since 1998 and have now secured their first tournament victory in 28 years.

The Manchester City star opened the scoring in the 29th minute to give Norway an early lead, but Iraq’s Aymen Hussein responded ten minutes later with a brilliant header to equalizer.

Norway quickly struck back just four minutes later when Haaland capitalized on an Iraqi defensive error to score his second goal of the match, restoring his team’s lead to 2-1 just before halftime.

Norway maintained control in the second half, extending their lead to 3-1 in the 76th minute when Leo Østigård found the net with an impressive header.

The dominant performance was officially sealed in the 96th minute of injury time when an unfortunate own goal by an Iraqi player finalised the comfortable 4-1 scoreline.

With this decisive victory, Norway secures 3 crucial points to kick off their campaign.

They now sit level at the top of Group I alongside France, who also claimed 3 points following their 3-1 victory over Senegal earlier in the day.