Haaland and his Vikings conquer the tri-state area. The Norwegian team beat Senegal 3-2 and, after 28 years without entering the World Cup, qualified for the round of 32 stage of the 2026 World Cup thanks to another double from its star, Erling Haaland, which once again marked the difference for his team.
Twenty-three touches and six completed passes throughout the match earned Erling Braut Haaland, one of the figures of the tournament, his second double in two matches at this World Cup and equaled the performances of his goal namesakes, Leo Messi and Kylian Mbappé, in a historic day for Norwegian football, by qualifying among the 32 best in the tournament.
The match started as if it were a final, with both teams very cautious with the ball, knowing that a possible defeat would penalize them more than anything else.
Senegal had more ball possession at times, but threatened less than when Norway and all its artillery came out with spaces. Sadio Mané, star of the Senegalese attack, was hardly intimidating every time he grabbed the ball.
With Odegaard in the creation, Sorloth on the right wing, Nusa on the left and Haaland as the maximum reference, Stale Solbakken’s selection held nothing back and made the Senegalese team tremble with each approach.
It had to be Edouard Mendy who tried to hold down a Senegalese defense with the feeling that, sooner or later, he was going to receive the Norwegian goal.
The current Al-Ahli goalkeeper and former Champions League winner with Chelsea made a very worthwhile save in a one-on-one against Odegaard. Mendy went out quickly to cover as much space as possible and the shot with the Norwegian footballer’s outside instep met the Senegalese’s body.
Everything that Mendy got right in his first interventions, he missed a little later, before the break. He was even about to give a goal to Haaland, who sent the ball to the post.
The least expected man opened the can. Marcus Pedersen, a Norwegian right back who entered the field due to an injury to his teammate Julian Ryerson in the 13th minute, was a hero for one night.
With this goal, Senegal linked 13 games in a row in the World Cup conceding at least one goal.
The European score was marked by the glaring error of a veteran center back like Kalidou Koulibaly. The Senegalese captain, who in his time perfected the art of defending in the Naples shirt, left a faulty clearance that Pedersen’s shot at the near post served on a plate.
It was Koulibaly again who appeared in the photo of the second Norwegian goal, this time not as a portrait but as a sign that the Senegalese defense could not stop a fierce attack like that of the Norway of the “Android” Haaland.
The Manchester City ‘9’ took advantage of a counterattack in the open field to poke into space and, after Odegaard’s pinpoint pass, he beat Mendy over the top with the usual calmness of Haaland in front of goal.
Haaland, unleashed in the second half, signed his own double, this time from a pass from Patrick Berg and with Mendy unable to do anything, as he finished the play injured and had to be replaced.
On a night of predicted adverse weather like the one experienced at MetLife Stadium, there was no worse hurricane than that of Erling Braut Haaland, who in this World Cup honors his mother with his surname on the shirt and his father by playing in the same World Cup venue as in the 1994 World Cup.
With his two goals against Senegal and the other two against Iraq, Haaland reaches 59 goals in 51 games with his national team, in addition to having scored 12 consecutive games with Norway, since November 2024.
In the middle of Haaland’s recital, the “Lions of Teranga” scored their first goal of the match, the work of Ismaila Sarr from a pass from Mané, which gave them some hope.
Sarr, a player from the English Crystal Palace, also made it 3-2 with a few minutes left, but his double was insufficient for a Senegal that is practically eliminated, with no points and a negative goal average of three goals in the absence of playing against Iraq.
On a night with 100% attendance according to FIFA, the red tide made the stadium vibrate with their chants and rowing movements in Viking boats, which the players themselves also did at the end of the game.
This is how they aligned
– Norway (3): Ørjan Nylan; Julian Ryerson (Marcus Holmgren Pedersen, m.13), Kristoffer Ajer, Torbjørn Heggem (Leo Ostigard, m.83), David Møller Wolfe; Sander Berge, Martin Odegaard, Fredrik Aursnes (Patrick Berg, m.45); Alexander Sörloth (Oscar Bobb, m.83), Antonio Nusa (Andreas Schjelderup, m.70), Erling Haaland.
– Selector: Ståle Solbakken.
– Senegal: Édouard Mendy (Mory Diaw, d.63); Krépin Diatta, Kalidou Koulibaly (Mamadou Sarr, d.71), Moussa Niakhate, El Hadji Malick Diouf (Ismail Jakobs, d.53); Idrissa Gueye, Pape Gueye (Ibrahim Mbaye, d.53); Ismaila Sarr, Lamine Camara (Pathé Ciss, d.63), Sadio Mané; Nicolas Jackson.
– Selector: Pape Thiaw.
– Goals: 1-0, m.43: Pedersen. 2-0, m.48: Haaland. 2-1, m.53: Sarr. 3-1, m.58: Haaland. 3-2, m.92: Sarr.
– Referee: Wilton Sampaio (Brazil).
– Incidents: Match of the second day of Group “I” of the 2026 World Cup played at the New York/New Jersey stadium (Metlife) in front of some 80,545 spectators.
(With a report from Jan Téllez Asensio, from EFE)
