Norway hadn’t played at a World Cup since 1998. Twenty-eight years of waiting, and it took their captain less than half an hour to remind everyone exactly what they’d been missing. By the time the dust settled at Boston Stadium, Norway had put four goals past a brave but overwhelmed Iraq side, and Erling Haaland had turned his tournament debut into a personal coronation.
The early signs actually pointed toward a tighter contest than the scoreline suggests. Haaland was kept relatively quiet for the first half hour, his best chance early on a towering header that sailed well over the bar, while Iraq’s Ali Al-Hamadi fired an ambitious effort just over the crossbar of his own. For a few minutes, it genuinely felt like Iraq might make a real fist of their first World Cup appearance since 1986.
Then Haaland did what Haaland does. In the 29th minute, he ghosted into space and tapped in a low cross from Wolves defender David Moller Wolfe to open the scoring — his first-ever World Cup goal, and a fittingly simple finish for a striker who makes the hardest job in football look routine.
Iraq, to their credit, refused to fold. They drew level when Aymen Hussein found the net in the 39th minute, and for a brief, electric moment, Boston Stadium believed.
It didn’t last. Four minutes before halftime, a costly Iraqi defensive error gifted Haaland the chance to restore Norway’s lead, and he made no mistake, slotting home his second of the night. Norway went into the break ahead 2-1, having controlled 62 percent of possession, but Iraq were still very much alive in the contest.
The second half told a different story entirely. Norway seized control of the midfield and turned the closing stages into a clinic in game management. Iraq had their moments — Aymen Hussein nodded a header just off target in the 53rd minute, and Hussein Ali lifted a effort onto the roof of the net in the 65th — but the longer the game went, the more comfortable Norway looked.
The killer blow arrived in the 76th minute. Leo Østigård rose to meet a delivery and headed Norway 3-1 in front, the kind of goal that takes the air out of any comeback hopes. Haaland himself nearly added a hat-trick in the 83rd minute but fired straight at goalkeeper Jalal Hassan, and Kristian Thorstvedt somehow dragged a glorious chance wide from six yards in stoppage time, much to his captain’s visible frustration on the touchline.
Iraq’s misery was compounded right at the death. Deep into the eighth minute of stoppage time, an unfortunate own goal from Aymen Hussein — the very man who’d scored Iraq’s lone goal of the night — sealed a 4-1 final score that made Norway’s dominance look even more emphatic than the match itself had actually felt for long stretches.
It capped an emotional return to the World Cup stage for Norway, and a player who arrived in Boston as a Manchester City superstar left it as a certified World Cup goalscorer too — his 51st international goal in just 56 caps, a number that should terrify the rest of Group I.
Norway now sit top of the group on goal difference and turn their attention to Senegal on June 26th. For Iraq, there’s no time to dwell. Up next is a daunting trip to face France, fresh off their own 3-1 win, in what could be a defining moment for Iraq’s tournament hopes. The “Group of Death” tag is looking more accurate by the match.
Man of the Match: Haaland
