Erling Haaland cements superstar status, scores twice in Norway’s 2-1 win over Brazil

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — For much of Sunday afternoon, Norway’s 6-foot-5 superstar Erling Haaland roamed the field, biding his time against Brazil, waiting for his moment to strike. He stood about a half-foot taller than most of the Brazilians. But they swarmed and bottled him up until the 79th minute, when his chance came in an instant.

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Norway’s Andreas Schjelderup chipped the ball toward the goal from the left side, and Haaland leaped, swung his neck and headed it into the net, outjumping Brazil’s 6-foot-3 defender Gabriel Magalhães, his Premier League nemesis.

During the celebration, Haaland played it cool, looking into the crowd with a sly smile. Schjelderup jumped on his back, and the rest of the Norway team began to mob him. Once the excitement had died down, the team gathered in a circle and a player went up to Haaland, grabbed the back of his neck and kissed his cheek.

That moment said it all: Norway wouldn’t be here without Haaland, who ended up scoring twice Sunday to lead his country to a 2-1 win over five-time champion Brazil and secure a berth in the World Cup quarterfinals, the furthest Norway has ever advanced in the tournament.

“I’m lost for words. We’re all lost for words,” Schjelderup said. “I think we’re all just happy that he’s Norwegian and that he’s playing for us. The things he does every game, to be able to score. It doesn’t matter: You can just cross the ball or pass to him blindly and he will score. We’re so lucky to have him.”

Haaland is a star striker for his club team, Manchester City, of the English Premier League. He’s a household name among soccer fans around the world. But over the past few weeks, he has somehow ascended to a new level. Haaland has played his best on the sport’s biggest stage, scoring seven goals at this World Cup so far, tied with Argentina’s Lionel Messi and France’s Kylian Mbappé for the most in the tournament.

Haaland’s play has left him speechless, as well. “I don’t have words,” he said. “It’s difficult to put words in what I’m feeling, what I’m doing, because it is unreal. I need to pinch myself sometimes in the arm because it’s big, you know?”

As this tournament began, millions of soccer newbies were introduced to Haaland, Norway’s blond, real-life Viking. He scored two goals against Iraq, two more against Senegal and then the winning goal against the Ivory Coast in the round of 32. After that one, Haaland donned a Viking hat on the field, fully leaning into the World Cup’s pomp and circumstance.

But for those who follow Haaland on social media, it wasn’t anything new. During the tournament, he has posted photos of himself trying on a cowboy hat and boots on a trip to Texas and photos of himself visiting Times Square and the famous Katz’s Delicatessen on a New York trip. He comes across as your average 25-year-old Norwegian on holiday in the U.S.

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On the field, he happens to be one of the scariest players in the tournament. Norway and Brazil were locked in a tense, back-and-forth game Sunday, in the round of 16, until Haaland came flying in with that header to give Norway a 1-0 lead. His second goal may have bested the first. In the 90th minute, he received a pass on the left side, about 24 yards from the net, five Brazilians in his general vicinity. He took a touch and blasted a left-footed shot that went between a defender’s legs and into the opposite corner of the net.

For this celebration, Haaland pretended to take off his shirt before he lifted his index finger as if to say, “Just kidding.” Schjelderup, who assisted the second goal, too, jumped onto Haaland’s back again and pointed down at him, as if anyone in MetLife Stadium that day, or anyone watching at home, needed to know where to direct their attention.

“It’s almost like a cheat code,” Norway’s David Møller Wolfe said. “Sometimes it feels like you’re already winning 1-0 or 2-0 before you start the game because you know he’s going to score one or two.”

Norway will play England in the quarterfinals on Saturday in Miami, and Haaland will have at least one more chance to pass Messi and Mbappé in the chase for the Golden Boot, which is awarded to the tournament’s leading scorer.

Norway hadn’t made the World Cup for nearly three decades, until Haaland and this generation of Norwegians came along. The win over Brazil showed “that we’re actually one of the better teams in Europe and the world,” Haaland said. “What we’ve been doing is amazing. And it took 28 years. It took some time. I’m 25 years old, so you can’t really blame me for that.”

After the final whistle blew and this Norway team had made history, Haaland took a moment and looked into the Norwegian cheering section, trying to process what had just happened.

“I couldn’t quite believe it,” he said afterward. “Because I didn’t dream of this ever in my life. I dreamt of playing in the World Cup with Norway … but I never expected to win against Brazil. Let’s be honest and say that. I mean, I thought it was not possible to do some things. But I guess I’m wrong.”

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