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Norway hammered Iraq 4-1 in Boston, with Erling Haaland finally getting his World Cup goals — two of them, in the 29th and 43rd minutes, to give Norway a comfortable lead at the break. Iraq briefly threatened when Aymen Hussein pulled one back just before half-time, but Ostigard headed in a third on 76 minutes and Hussein then had the misfortune of putting the ball into his own net in stoppage time. Both sides were making their first World Cup appearances in decades — Iraq after 40 years away, Norway after 28 — and on this showing Norway look the real deal in Group I, while Iraq have a mountain to climb.
Pre-match Talking Points
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1Iraq need a result. Norway need a result. They're both opening their tournament here, which means neither side can afford to go one-nil down and spend 80 minutes chasing the game. Norway are heavy favourites — they're priced at roughly 4/9 to win — but Iraq are 40 years in the making and have nothing to lose. That combination tends to produce annoying football for the team expected to stroll it.
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2These two have met once at a World Cup: never, because neither of them has been at one at the same time until now. Iraq's only previous appearance was 1986, Norway's last was 1998. So this is technically a first World Cup encounter between the two nations, which is the kind of stat that sounds impressive until you realise both sides were simply absent for decades.
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3Erling Haaland is finally at a World Cup. This is notable mostly because it took until 2026 — the man has been the best striker on the planet for three years, and the tournament has been conspicuously lacking him. He scored 16 goals in qualifying. Norway's group-stage opponents are going to spend a lot of time thinking about where he is on the pitch.
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4Iraq's coach was reportedly stranded in the Middle East due to visa issues in the build-up. Whether that's been resolved or not, it's a fairly unusual pre-tournament storyline for a side making their return after a 40-year absence. Iraq were the last team to qualify for this World Cup, playing 21 matches to get here — more than anyone else. That's either character-building or exhausting, depending on your outlook.
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5Iraq's first World Cup since 1986 is the hook here. They beat Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff to get over the line, in what was only their second-ever World Cup qualification. Back home, football is one of the few things that cuts across Iraq's sectarian and ethnic divides — they won the Asian Cup in 2007 and it briefly united the country. No pressure for the lads, but an entire nation that doesn't normally agree on anything is watching.
Team Talking Points
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1Iraq's World Cup ended in the group stage with three defeats from three — 4-1 to Norway, 3-0 to France, 5-0 to Senegal — but simply being there was the real headline. It's Iraq's first World Cup since 1986, a 40-year wait, and they were drawn straight into a group with France, Norway and Senegal, all three of whom went through.
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2The high point actually came before the tournament: beating Bolivia 2-1 in the intercontinental play-off to book their spot at all, with Ali Al-Hamadi heading them in front and Aymen Hussein settling it just after half-time. That result is the reason Iraq had a World Cup to turn up to in the first place.
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3Once the group stage started, the football was tougher going — a genuine group of death, and the scorelines show it. There's no shame in it: France and Norway both progressed, and Senegal made it through as one of the best third-placed teams. Iraq just ran into three teams playing above them.
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4Ali Al-Hamadi was the one to know — the first Iraqi player ever to appear in the Premier League, at Ipswich Town, bringing pace and directness to a front line built around the more experienced Hussein's finishing.
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5Iraq leave with no points and a heavy goal difference, but also a first World Cup appearance in 40 years finally banked. Whatever comes next for Iraqi football, this squad are the ones who ended the wait.
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Top thing to say down the pub
Iraq waited 40 years to get back to a World Cup, landed in a group with France, Norway and Senegal, and lost every game — but they were there, which was the whole point after four decades away.
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Avoid saying
Don't say "Iraq have no World Cup pedigree at all" as if this is completely uncharted territory — their only previous appearance, back in 1986, was also a group-stage exit, so there's no lost golden era to invoke either way.
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1Norway's tournament ended in the quarterfinal, beaten 2-1 by England on July 12 — heartbreak, but the end of the best World Cup run in the country's history.
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2This was Norway's first World Cup since 1998, a 28-year wait finally over after a perfect qualifying campaign: eight wins from eight, scoring 37 goals along the way, eight more than any other qualifier. They did not arrive as tourists.
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3The high point, and one of the moments of the whole tournament, was beating five-time champions Brazil 2-1 in the round of 16 on July 5. Erling Haaland scored twice in the last eleven minutes to send Brazil out of a World Cup earlier than they had at any point since 1990.
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4Haaland was the obvious headline act — goals in the win over Brazil, top scorer for his country all tournament — but captain Martin Ødegaard was the calm head running the midfield underneath him, the reason Norway looked composed rather than just dangerous.
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5A first-ever World Cup quarterfinal after 28 years in the wilderness is not a bad way to end a 'please just qualify for once' era. Norway go home as one of the genuine stories of the tournament, and nobody who watched it will forget the name Haaland.
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Top thing to say down the pub
Norway hadn't been to a World Cup since 1998, turned up and knocked Brazil out with a Haaland double in the last 11 minutes — one of the stories of the whole tournament, full stop.
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Avoid saying
Don't say 'shame they've only got Haaland' — Ødegaard ran an entire midfield to a first-ever quarterfinal. This was not a one-man show, even if the finishing was.