FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Erling Haaland scored his first two World Cup goals, including one off a defensive blunder, and added an assist in his tournament debut Tuesday to propel Norway to a 4-1 victory over Iraq in Group I.It was the 56th and 57th international goals for the Manchester City striker and came in Norway’s first appearance in the tournament since reaching the round of 16 at the 1998 World Cup in France — two years before Haaland was born.Leo Ostigard added the third goal in the 76th minute off a corner kick from Martin Odegaard. Kristian Thorstvedt scored the final goal just before the final whistle off Haaland’s assist.Iraq briefly equalized just nine minutes after Haaland’s first strike on a goal by Aymen Hussein.But Haaland put the Norwegians in front for good just before halftime when he snuck in front of a poor back pass to Iraq goalkeeper Jalal Hassan. Haaland beat him to the ball, preempting his attempted clearance, and then used his shin to put the ball in the back of the net.
Haaland’s first goal, which came in the 29th minute, came off a cross into the box from David Moller Wolfe. Haaland slid and used his right heel to finish it off. It ignited waves of cheers from the Norway supporters, who dominated the stands clad in red as they broke out in synchronized Viking row chants.
