Behind five goals from Erling Haaland and four goals from Thelonious Aasgaard, Norway are one step closer to making it to the World Cup, dispatching Moldova 11-1 at home on Tuesday. Norway went ahead 5-0 ahead of halftime with a three-goal outburst right before the whistle. From the moment that their first goal went in six minutes into the match until the final whistle, it was all Norway all the time. Even Moldova’s solo goal was an own goal by Leo Ostigard, so all the output in the match came from the Norwegians.
Perfect in World Cup qualifying, Norway haven’t qualified for the World Cup since 1998, but that could end next matchday. In group I, the Norwegians have a six-point lead on Italy, and while Italy do have a game in hand, Norway have a goal difference of +21 and control their destiny for qualification. Italy played a thrilling 5-4 match with Israel in their last time out to stay alive in qualification, but this group is Norway’s to lose.
It doesn’t feel like the World Cup unless the best players in the world are there, and no one will want to line up across the pitch from Martin Odegaard and Haaland if they make it to the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Haaland now has a strong chance at also being the top scorer of UEFA qualifying with his ninth goal of the qualifiers, three ahead of Croatia’s Andrej Kramaric, who has six goals so far. Haaland also now has 45 goals in only 43 starts for his country as the Manchester City forward has been doing everything that he can to push his country to the world’s biggest stage.
Norway will next play Israel on Oct. 11 in their next qualifier, but they won’t be able to punch their ticket to the World Cup just then. A victory would see Norway reach 18 points, but since Italy have a game in hand, if they win all their matches, Italy can reach a maximum of 21 points. If Italy drop any points during the October window with Norway winning at home, that’s when the party will begin.
