Erling Haaland is now also a man of records in the Norwegian jersey. The 24-year-old starting striker scored two goals in Norway’s 3-0 home win against Slovenia in Austria’s Group B3 of the Nations League on Thursday evening and now has 34 international goals. No other countryman scored more often.
The Norwegians were wide awake in Oslo right from the start. Slovenia keeper Jan Oblak fended off a shot from Antonio Nusa, but the ball fell to Haaland, who scored with his right (7th). For the Manchester City attacker it was his 33rd goal in his 36th international match, drawing level with Norway’s previous record goalscorer Jörgen Juve.
Haaland is making history
The hosts also got off to a strong start in the second half with the friendly help of the Slovenians. Defender Vanja Drkusic made two mistakes in one scene and passed the ball to Alexander Sörloth, who effortlessly made it 2-0 (52nd). Ten minutes later it was Haaland again who finished off an attack from 14 m. With his 34th goal, the superstar, who scored the winning goal in the 2-1 win over the ÖFB team in September, wrote Norwegian sports history.
Norway, visiting Linz on Sunday (8:45 p.m./live on ORF1), took the lead in the table from the Slovenians (4) after three rounds and seven points. They fell back to third place behind Austria, who dispatched Kazakhstan 4-0.