Erling Haaland scores twice in World Cup debut as Norway tops Iraq 4-1 in Group I

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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Erling Haaland scored his first two World Cup goals, including one off a defensive blunder, in his tournament debut Tuesday to propel Norway to a 4-1 victory over Iraq in Group I.

It was the 56th and 57th international goals for the Manchester City striker and came in Norway’s first appearance in the tournament since reaching the round of 16 at the 1998 World Cup in France — two years before Haaland was born.

Leo Ostigard added the third goal in the 76th minute off a corner kick from Martin Odegaard. An own-goal by Iraq forward Aymen Hussein just before the final whistle completed Norway's scoring.

Iraq briefly equalized just nine minutes after Haaland’s first strike on a goal by Hussein.

But Haaland put the Norwegians in front for good just before halftime when he snuck in front of a poor back pass to Iraq goalkeeper Jalal Hassan. Haaland beat him to the ball, preempting his attempted clearance, and then used his shin to put the ball in the back of the net.

Haaland’s first goal, which came in the 29th minute, came off a cross into the box from David Moller Wolfe. Haaland slid and used his right heel to finish it off. It ignited waves of cheers from the Norway supporters, who dominated the stands clad in red as they broke out in synchronized Viking row chants.

Iraq, playing in the World Cup for just the second time after debuting in 1986, held its own with a sizeable contingent of supporters that was mostly concentrated behind one of the goals.

That energy helped Iraq briefly get back into the game.

It came in the 38th minute when Amir Alammari corralled a ball on the baseline halfway between the left corner and the goal and fired a cross in front of the net. It eluded Norway’s defenders, allowing Hussein to punch a clean header that bounced under the hand of diving goalkeeper Orjan Nyland to even the score at 1-1.

It was Hussein’s 34th international goal for Iraq. That includes his winning goal against Bolivia in Iraq’s final World Cup qualifying match in April that gave the country the final spot in the 48-team tournament field.

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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup