Erling Haaland powers Norway into the next round and keeps pace in Golden Boot race

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — On Monday, Norwegians were spotted across New York City dressed in red doing the “Viking row,” a fan ritual in which they sit side by side, packed tightly together as if on a ship and mimic as if they were rowing oars in unison. They did it on the subway, in Times Square and sitting on 33rd Street waiting for a train to Norway’s World Cup game.

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On social media, it looked as if the nation of about 5.6 million people had descended upon Manhattan. Then around 10 p.m. that night, the Norwegians did the row once more inside the New York-New Jersey Stadium, after Norway had defeated Senegal, 3-2.

Team Norway joined in on the row, too, with players doing their own version on the field, facing a sea of red in the stands. Leading the way was Erling Haaland, Norway’s star striker, who scored two goals against Senegal after tallying two last week against Iraq.

This is the first time Norway has made the World Cup since 1998, and it is making up for lost time. After two games, both wins, Norway has already clinched a spot in the knockout round and Haaland is in the running for the Golden Boot, given to the tournament’s top scorer. Argentina’s Lionel Messi has five goals and France’s Kylian Mbappé has four. They both scored twice earlier Monday but Haaland matched them to keep pace.

“It’s easier to win the Golden Boot when you play for France and Argentina,” Norway’s manager Ståle Solbakken said after the Senegal match. “But we’re trying to give Haaland more games and also more help in the next games. He’s on fire and I’m very happy for him that he’s scoring on the biggest stage.”

All night, the 6-foot-5 Haaland sprinted around the field, his shoulders hunched, stalking the ball like a Viking on the hunt. In stoppage time in the first half, he pressured the Senegalese goalkeeper, who had just received a pass, stole the ball and shot on the empty net — only to hit the frame. Norway retained possession and, moments later, a teammate crossed a pass into the box. Haaland leapt and whipped a header toward the corner of the net — only for the goalkeeper to make a save.

Each time he missed, Haaland fell to his knees, brought his hands over his head and slammed them on the grass. “He missed an open goal,” Solbakken said. “He could have scored even four.”

Of course, Haaland eventually got a chance to redeem himself. In the 48th minute, Norway was on a fastbreak, when Martin Ødegaard threaded a pass to Haaland between two defenders. On his first touch, Haaland drove a shot with his left foot, as he was falling down, into the upper right corner of the net.

About 10 minutes later, Senegal was having trouble clearing the ball out of its own half when Norway’s Patrick Berg corralled it. He lifted a pass toward Haaland, who volleyed the ball off the crossbar and into the net. Haaland lifted his finger to his ear and looked into the crowd, where Norway fans were going berserk.

You could hardly tell it was Haaland’s first World Cup. He apparently has a knack for making grand entrances on big stages. In 2019, he scored a hat trick in his first Champions League game — in the first half . Then in 2022, he scored twice in his Premier League debut for Manchester City.

“It’s my speciality to score goals,” Haaland said, when asked to explain the phenomenon. “It’s like many other things, I’m just really good at scoring goals. And I’m quite lucky. I don’t know what I’m doing. But yeah. That’s just how it is.”

On Friday, Norway will play Mbappé and France, who are also 2-0. The winner will clinch Group I, to help with seeding in the knockout round. A Fox Sports reporter asked Haaland about the France match, and he didn’t give the typical cliched athlete answer.

“We managed to get through, which is incredible,” Haaland told the reporter. “I couldn’t care too much about that game now. They’re probably going to win against us. They’re probably going to win the whole tournament.”

Perhaps Haaland was trying to put things in perspective. This is only the fourth time Norway has made the World Cup, and it’s never advanced past the round of 16. As Norway’s fans exited the stadium after beating Senegal, they chanted and sang well into the night.

“I’m part of something special,” Haaland said. “Norway’s part of something special. We’re making history and I’m extremely proud to be Norwegian.”