Norway’s dramatic 3-2 victory over Senegal not only secured an early ticket to the next round at the 2026 World Cup, but also marked the day main striker Erling Haaland established a series of impressive milestones.
Erling Haaland is experiencing days of ultimate brilliance on American soil. With a classy brace against Senegal, the 25-year-old striker has officially reached the milestone of 59 goals after 52 appearances in the national team shirt.
This remarkable goalscoring achievement helps Haaland firmly consolidate his status as the greatest goalscorer in the history of Norwegian football, widening the gap with the second-placed legendary player Jorgen Juve to 24 goals. Not stopping there, his destructive form helps him maintain a terrifying scoring streak in 12 consecutive official matches for the national team since November 2024, scoring a total of 24 goals.
At the 2026 World Cup, the Man City star also became the sixth player in the tournament’s history, and the second in the past 50 years after Harry Kane in 2018, to score a brace in both of the first two group stage matchdays. Haaland’s brilliant performance currently puts him in second place in the race for the Top Scorer award, trailing Lionel Messi by just a single goal.
The explosion of the striker born in 2000 has created a chain effect, helping the Norwegian squad establish an unprecedented historical milestone. In their three previous appearances at the planet’s biggest football festival, the Nordic representative had never won more than a single match in a final tournament.
Defeating Senegal after the opening match victory against Iraq helps Norway win 2 matches at a World Cup for the first time to proudly advance to the round of 32. In addition, the match also recorded substitute defender Marcus Holmgren Pedersen becoming the sixth substitute player in World Cup history to score right in the first half.
