Erling Haaland stood on the pitch in Dallas, a goofy grin across his face and a Viking helmet atop his head at a jaunty angle. He was drinking it all in.
Norway had just beaten Ivory Coast 2-1, their first knockout victory in World Cup history. It was celebrated by players and fans joining together in their now iconic Viking Row celebration – conducted by Martin Odegaard on the drum.
Haaland has now scored 60 goals in 53 senior internationals – averaging a goal every 72 minutes – but the first 55 had not come in a major tournament with Norway having previously failed to qualify for any during his lifetime.
But, at the 2026 World Cup, Haaland has delivered on the big stage with five goals in three appearances – only Lionel Messi has more in North America – and based on his huge smile on the pitch in Dallas and his light-hearted social media misadventures off it, it is a stage on which he is thriving.
“Norway are a very good team, and purely because of that man,” said former England captain turned BBC pundit Wayne Rooney. “Because of his goals, he has proven that he belongs at this World Cup level.
“He is just devastating. He wasn’t in the game much, but he came up with the winning goal.”
Haaland has now scored in each of his past 13 competitive appearances for Norway, claiming 25 goals in that run.
As one Norway fan told BBC Sport in Dallas: “He means everything to us. He’s so decisive in moments like this.
“He’s one of the main reasons we qualified in the first place and the reason why we won today. He’s the most important player by far. He’s the greatest player Norway has ever had and probably ever will have.”
No current male international footballer can come close to Haaland’s strike-rate, which begs the question: how many goals can he score for Norway?
