East Rutherford (New Jersey) [US], June 24: Erling Haaland scored twice as Norway made it to the knock-out stage of the World Cup after a 3-2 win over Senegal on Monday.
Haaland is now the first player since Harry Kane in 2018 to score multiple goals in his first two World Cup matches, and sixth overall.
The Norway striker has scored four times so far.
"It was special again. Another amazing night and I'm super proud," Haaland told Fox Sports.
"I'm enjoying it a lot. I've enjoyed playing for Norway ever since my debut and you can see that. The World Cup is nice!"
The Norwegians will now face France on Friday for the Group I lead with both sides tied on six points. The French side have also advanced after a 3-0 win over Iraq earlier.
Markus Pedersen scored his first international goal to give Norway the lead in the 43rd minute.
Superstar Haaland added one to his name in the 48th before Ismaila Sarr pulled one back for Senegal in the 53rd.
Celebrations didn't last long because Haaland completed his brace just five minutes later.
Sarr also got a brace to add a second for Senegal in stoppage time and even got close to a hat-trick but the late surge wasn't enough for an equalizer.
Norway are competing in their first World Cup since 1998, when they were eliminated in the last 16.
Senegal now take on Iraq with both sides hoping to still advance to the knock-outs as one of the best third-placed teams.
The match It took a while but the ball was finally on the net when Pedersen found the breakthrough for Norway.
He started the game on the bench but came on in the 13th to replace Julian Ryerson, who was struggling with hamstring issues.
Kalidou Koulibaly inexplicably passed the ball straight to Pedersen and he drove into the box before firing in a low shot past goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.
Things got off to a quicker start in the second half and Haaland found the next for the first time three minutes after the restart.
Martin Ødegaard led an attack before sending a through ball to Haaland, who beat a sliding Koulibaly before slamming a first-time shot into the goal.
Senegal reacted and Sarr latched onto a flick from Sadio Mane in the box, held off David Møller Wolfe and slammed it home in the 53rd.
But Haaland took advantage of a careless defensive action to score his second. Senegal twice failed to clear their lines in the box and Patrick Berg recovered the ball before serving Haaland, who volleyed it high into the net.
There was also some messy defending from Norway and Kristoffer Ajer's missed clearance allowed Nicolas Jackson to find Sarr, who also got a brace in stoppage time.
He could have scored a third as Senegal gave Norway some nervy final minutes but the Norwegians took the three points in the end. "It was tough, we're a little disappointed. But it's not over yet, there's still a third game to play. We're going to go there to win it, and we're going to work hard," Sarr said.
Source: Qatar Tribune
