Erling Haaland made headlines at the World Cup yet again on Sunday, and his latest exploits have put the Manchester City striker on the brink of making history.
Before England’s pulsating win over Mexico at the Azteca Stadium, Norway took on Brazil at the New York New Jersey Stadium.
How many goals can you see Erling Haaland scoring for Norway before he eventually retires? 🇳🇴⚽
Could he actually get near Cristiano Ronaldo's haul of 146 goals? 👀 If not, why not?
Brazil were favourites, but in the end it was Norway who advanced – and deservedly so.
Plenty actually felt the Scandinavian nation had the capacity to win, with Brazil having flattered to deceive in their previous games.
And they did just that – and it was Erling Haaland who got them over the line.
And his latest brace now puts him on the brink of making World Cup history.
The record Erling Haaland could soon break at the 2026 World Cup
Haaland is obviously a regular scorer of goals for Manchester City.
But he is especially deadly for Norway, with his latest two goals taking him to a staggering 62 goals in just 54 matches.
He’s now scored in 14 straight games for his country, for a tally of 27 goals.
As a result of his brace against Brazil, Haaland went level with Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe in the race for the Golden Boot – all three players have seven.
But what is most impressive about Haaland’s exploits is the fact that this is his first-ever World Cup, and he is playing for a nation that had never previously been to a quarter-final.
His seven goals actually now mean he has gone level with legendary former Poland international Grzegorz Lato, who also scored seven in 1974.
Only six other players have scored more in a debut World Cup:
- Just Fontaine -13 in 1958
- Sándor Kocsis -11 in 1954
- Gerd Müller – 10 in 1970
- Eusébio – 9 in 1966
- Guillermo Stábile – 8 in 1930
- Ademir de Menezes – 8 in 1950
- Grzegorz Lato – 7 in 1974
- Erling Haaland – 7 in 2026
Haaland is Man City’s first truly global superstar
Haaland was already a phenomenon before this World Cup, but his goalscoring in North America has just elevated his status even further.
He was always going to score goals this summer
But to be level-pegging with Messi and Mbappe in his first tournament is so impressive.
And his performances coming in front of so many eyes have resulted in his profile growing even bigger on social media.
Ahead of the tournament, he had just over 40 million Instagram followers. He has now surpassed 50 million.
Haaland’s selfie post on X after beating Brazil has garnered over 78 million impressions at the time of writing, which really does show how much of a focus he has become.
