The Erling Haaland form is a big positive for Norway at the World Cup 2026. The 25-year-old striker scored the winning goal in the Norway vs Ivory Coast 2-1 win on Tuesday, June 30, in the round of 32 in Texas to take his team into the next round.
Haaland has now scored five goals in three matches in the tournament, having been rested in the group match against France. The Erling Haaland form remains an ominous sign for Brazil, Norway’s opponent in the round of 16.
Erling Haaland Form Confirms His Status as World’s Leading Goal-Scorer
Haaland has now scored 60 goals in 53 international matches for his country. Not only is his goal-scoring record by far the best in his country’s history, but it is also among the best of all time in the history of the game.
He is second in the race for the Golden Boot at the moment, with both Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi having scored six goals each so far.
Haaland, who has scored 162 goals in 198 matches for Manchester City, continues to renew his rivalry with Mbappe. Both players tend to score goals for fun.
In the Norway vs Ivory Coast match, Haaland did not get enough service from his teammates for the majority of the match.
Martin Odegaard played in a deeper role for the most part, and whenever he ventured forward to adopt a more attacking position, Norway looked more threatening. It was not a coincidence that both of Norway’s goals were scored when Odegaard was in the final third, with him registering an assist for Antonio Nusa’s goal.
Oscar Bobb, Haaland’s former teammate at Manchester City, played a key role in their second goal with a defence-splitting pass. However, to Haaland’s credit, he was once again in a perfect position to score with a subtle touch.
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Brazil Should Be Wary of Haaland
Brazil’s defence has Gabriel, who plays for Arsenal and gets into showdowns with Haaland regularly in Premier League football. Haaland’s record against the defensive pairing of Gabriel and William Saliba is not that great, and he is likely to get stiff resistance from the pair of Gabriel and Marquinhos on Sunday, July 5.
Still, Carlo Ancelotti must be having some worries about Haaland, who only needs a moment of opportunity to make a difference. Any space given to him inside the penalty box or any through pass played to him by Odegaard could turn out to be disastrous for Brazil. As a result, the centre-backs will have to be on guard most of the time.
Brazil will start as the favourites in the match, but Haaland’s presence in the opposition team reduces the chances of the match being one-sided. Brazil would like to attack more often, and any space left behind could be there for Haaland to exploit.
The Erling Haaland form means that he will remain in focus in Norway’s next match. The Norwegians managed to beat Brazil in 1998, the last time the former played in a World Cup. With Haaland in form, Norway would like to dream of a repeat of the act.
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