After a 28-year absence, Norway has re-entered the World Cup in style, and it’s thanks to Erling Haaland. The 25-year-old striker, in his tournament debut, has dominated storylines this summer: from the way he petrifies center backs with his 6'5" frame barreling towards goal; to the way he always ties up his long, luscious locks with carefully-selected, color-coordinated hair ties; to even his recent obsession with “Snapchat.”No storyline has become more prominent, though, than the way Haaland has turned soccer’s most competitive tournament into sheer child’s play. Haaland’s latest act of heroism cemented Norway’s spot in the round of 16. The Manchester City star buried an 85th-minute winner past Côte d’Ivoire’s goalkeeper Yahia Fofana to lead his side to a 2–1 victory and send the West African nation packing. The finish marked Haaland’s fifth goal at the World Cup this summer, achieved across just three matches, as manager Ståle Solbakken kept him sidelined for recovery in the group stage finale against France. Haaland preceded Tuesday’s outing with two-consecutive braces, against Iraq and Senegal, becoming just the third player in World Cup history to score in his first three World Cup appearances—and the first player in over 70 years. He also overtook the likes Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé and Vinicius Junior to take sole possession of second in the tightly-contested Golden Boot race, trailing only Lionel Messi, who has six goals to his name.That isn’t all Haaland has achieved for Norway thus far, though.Compete against the world. | SPORTS ILLUSTRATEDWorld’s Deadliest Striker?Haaland is unfazed by the World Cup pressure. | Justin Setterfield/Getty ImagesHaaland’s tap-in finish against Côte d’Ivoire also made him the fastest player ever to score 60 international goals, doing so in just 53 matches. The Norwegian has scored in his country’s last 13 competitive matches, with a whopping 25 goals in that run.Mbappé—the king of World Cup scoring—has also reached 60 international goals for France, but needed 101 appearances to do it. It took Cristiano Ronaldo 130 matches to reach the 60 goal-mark for Portugal and 122 games for Messi with Argentina. What makes Haaland’s achievement even more eye-opening is considering the world-class attacking support that both Messi and Mbappé have, compared to Haaland’s Norwegian teammates. Messi has the likes of Lautaro Martínez, Julián Alvarez and Enzo Fernández, among other Argentinian attacking stars, to aid in his swift goalscoring efforts. Mbappé has a supporting cast of Michael Olise, Dembélé and Désiré Doué, just to name a few. Norway isn’t devoid of high-caliber talent, featuring Alexander Sørloth on the wing and Martin Ødegaard pulling the midfield strings; however, it is nothing compared to the overflowing star power of both Argentina and France, the 2022 World Cup finalists.Haaland has proved that he will thrive in any conditions. He and his Scandinavian sweethearts now turn their attentions to five-time world champion Brazil, who defeated Japan 2–1 by the skin of its teeth on Monday, looking ripe for Haaland’s destruction.READ THE LATEST WORLD CUP NEWS, ANALYSIS AND INSIGHT FROM SI FCAdd us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow