Erling Haaland scored twice as Norway beat Senegal in New Jersey to secure a spot in the World Cup round of 32. The Manchester City striker now has four goals in the tournament more than any other Norwegian in World Cup history after just two games.
Marcus Pedersen gave Norway a 1-0 lead late in the first half after capitalizing on a poor clearance from Senegal captain Kalidou Koulibaly. Haaland then broke the deadlock early in the second half, running onto Martin Ødegaard’s incisive through ball to make it 2-0 and become Norway’s all-time World Cup top scorer. Ismaïla Sarr pulled one back for Senegal, but Haaland restored the two-goal cushion five minutes later with a composed side‑foot volley that hit the bar and bounced in.
Haaland has now scored in 12 consecutive competitive matches for Norway and has netted at least two goals in each of his last six international appearances. Sarr struck again deep into stoppage time to set up a tense finish, and a late header narrowly missed, but Norway held on for their second straight win to advance from Group I alongside France. Senegal must defeat Iraq in their final group match to keep alive hopes of reaching the knockout stage.
With four goals in two games, Haaland is thriving on football’s biggest stage and with at least two more group matches to come, a World Cup hat-trick still looks well within reach.
