Haaland scores twice as Norway routs Iraq in World Cup return

Erling Haaland arrived on the World Cup stage and immediately made Norway look like a team with real reach again. The Manchester City striker scored twice in Norway’s 4-1 win over Iraq on June 16, 2026, at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, giving his country a flying start in Group I and a reminder of the gap between a returning contender and a fully formed one.

Norway’s first World Cup match since 1998 was decided by its most familiar weapon. Haaland struck in the 29th minute, then added a second before halftime in his maiden appearance at the tournament, becoming the focal point of a performance that also featured Leo Østigård’s goal in the 76th minute and a stoppage-time own goal by Aymen Hussein to seal the result. Iraq had briefly drawn level through Hussein in the first half, but Norway’s finishing power quickly overwhelmed that resistance.

The result carried extra weight because Norway has spent 28 years away from the tournament, and this was only its fourth World Cup. The wait ended with a national side built around a player who had already dragged the team through qualifying, where Haaland scored 16 goals in eight matches to take Norway back to the global stage for the first time since France 1998.

For Iraq, the match was just as symbolic. The side returned to the World Cup for the first time since 1986, when it played in Mexico, after earning its place in March 2026 by beating Bolivia in the intercontinental playoff. The opening against Norway showed both the significance of that comeback and the hard edge of World Cup football, where one lapse can turn a competitive start into a heavy defeat.

Norway’s opening win was also its highest-scoring World Cup match, a milestone that underscores both the promise and the question hanging over this team. Haaland can carry a side a long way, and he did so again in Foxborough, but the tournament will soon test whether Norway is more than a one-man headline or a team with the depth to keep climbing once opponents turn fully toward stopping him.