For years, Erling Haaland dominated club football while the FIFA World Cup remained beyond his reach. Now, the game’s most prolific goalscorer has finally arrived on football’s grandest stage.
Their last appearance was a round of 16 exit in France in 1998 – approximately two years before he was born – and he is looking to take all that pain away from his people. He performs similarly for Norway and Manchester City.
To be fair, he has shown signs of improving his all-around game, particularly his link play. However, by modern standards, he is almost entirely a goalscorer.
He prefers his left foot, but he can also finish with his right. He excels in the air. He’s adept at peeling off into deeper positions to finish cut-backs, but he’s most effective when he can hang deep at the far post and wait for tap-ins.
For such a physically powerful player, few of his goals required him to outmuscle defenders. Haaland is much more likely to find space by making a clever run at the right time while remaining undetected by opponents.
In September 2019, Haaland made his senior debut for Norway in a UEFA Euro 2020 qualifier against Malta. A year later, he scored his first senior international goal against Austria in the UEFA Nations League, establishing himself as Norway’s first choice striker.
Over the next few years, Haaland rose to become one of the world’s best, if not the best, international strikers. He scored hat-tricks against Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Gibraltar, and Romania and was consistently one of the top scorers in the UEFA Nations League.
In October 2024, he became Norway’s all-time leading men’s goalscorer, breaking Jørgen Juve’s 1937 record. He accomplished this feat at the young age of 24. One of the biggest achievements of Haaland’s international career came during the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
Norway qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1998, with Haaland playing a decisive role. He scored 16 goals in all eight qualifying matches, a frightening return. He bagged five goals against Moldova, a hat-trick against Israel and two big goals against Italy to seal qualification.
He also became the fastest player in men’s international football to reach 50 goals, doing so in just 46 appearances. The 2026 tournament marks Haaland’s first World Cup. He made an immediate impact by scoring twice on his debut against Iraq, then followed it with another brace against Senegal as Norway reached the knockout stage for the first time in decades.
By the end of the group stage, he has scored four goals and was among the leading contenders for the Golden Boot, which was probably expected. Winning the World Cup might be beyond Norway, but Haaland will surely figure highly in the race to win the tournament’s top goalscorer award.
Being drawn in a group alongside France and Senegal was always going to be tricky, but Haaland has definitely shown his quality in North America. Above all else, it has been enjoyable to see him on the world stage for the first time.
The World Cup needs the biggest stars, and as the best goalscorer in world football, it wouldn’t have felt right without Haaland. One thing is for sure, no matter the competition, no matter the team, Erling Haaland will score goals.
