Erling Haaland scored twice as Norway edged Denmark 3-2 in their Nations League opener in Oslo, continuing a remarkable scoring run for his country.
The Manchester City striker now has 64 international goals in 56 appearances. He has scored in 15 of his last 16 competitive games for Norway, producing 29 goals in that period.
Haaland’s only blank during that run came in Norway’s World Cup quarter-final defeat by England. He has also scored multiple goals in eight of his last 10 competitive international appearances.
Norway started brightly and took the lead through Oscar Bobb. The Fulham forward collected a pass from captain Martin Odegaard before curling a precise effort into the far corner.
Four minutes later, Haaland doubled Norway’s advantage. Antonio Nusa created the opening with a fine individual move into the penalty area before slipping the ball through to Haaland.
The striker needed only one touch before firing past Denmark goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen.
Denmark refused to fold and pulled a goal back through Mikkel Damsgaard, who found the net with a superb free-kick from 25 yards.
Rasmus Hojlund then levelled shortly after the hour mark, heading Denmark back into the contest.
Norway needed another moment from their prolific striker, and Haaland delivered in the 74th minute.
A well-worked corner found him inside the penalty area and Haaland produced a powerful finish to restore Norway’s lead.
Denmark could not respond again as Norway held on for the three points.
The double also strengthened Haaland’s position as the leading scorer in Nations League history. He now has 21 goals in the competition, six more than Aleksandar Mitrovic and Cristiano Ronaldo, who have 15 each.
