Iraq 1-4 Norway (Jun 16, 2026) Game Analysis
Erling Haaland he scored his first World Cup targets with a brace as Norway began their marketing campaign with a 4-1 win over Iraq in Boston.
Norway took the lead after 29 minutes as Sander Berge performed David Moller Wolfe in on the left of the penalty space and his low cross was turned in on the again publish by Haaland.
Moments later, the Manchester City striker nearly turned supplier after latching on to Antonio Nusa’s tremendous cross and feeding Alexander Sorloth, whose shot was nicely blocked, with Arsenal midfielder Martin Odegaard firing vast as Norway continued to dominate.
Iraq dealt a sucker-punch on the counter assault after 39 minutes. Ali Jasim performed a intelligent reverse cross to Amir Al-Ammari and from his cross, Aymen Hussein planted a header low into the underside nook.
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Iraq had been stage for simply 4 minutes as goalkeeper Jalal Hassan didn’t cope with a weak again cross and solely succeeded in launching his clearance towards Haaland, with the ball ricocheting into the online.
Iraq nearly drew stage in first-half stoppage time as Ali Al Hamadi was performed by one-on-one, solely to see Kristoffer Ajer’s last-ditch block steer his effort narrowly vast, earlier than Akam Hashim’s volley from the sting of the field flew narrowly over the bar.
After the break, Hussein headed vast and Hussein Ali fired over as Iraq threatened an equalizer, just for Leo Ostigard to rise highest and head in an Ødegaard nook after 76 minutes to place the outcome past doubt.
Hassan denied Haaland his hat-trick with close-range save, however was powerless to stop a fourth in stoppage-time as Hussein diverted the ball into his personal web.
