At 218ft tall, the Boston Stadium lighthouse is a living tribute to New England’s maritime story. On a clear day, you can see the skylines of Boston and Providence from the top.
It is the podium from which special guests ring the ceremonial bell to mark the start of each game, but no bell was necessary on Tuesday night.
This was Norway stepping out of the darkness after 28 years away from the World Cup but it was also Erling Haaland reporting for duty. The world’s biggest sporting tournament welcomed one of the world’s biggest stars to the biggest stage, aged 25.
This is not how most superstars appear on this scene. They arrive at 17 or 18; boyish prototypes with an innocence to their mystique. Iraq, who competed well for an hour, were cruelly greeted by the Manchester City striker, who has been breaking records for seven years across Europe. This was overdue punishment on the world stage.
Approaching the half-hour mark, he was in danger of underwhelming. He was standing offside a lot. He wasn’t touching the ball that often. Hardly at all, in fact. Was this an off day?
