The best pure goalscorer in world football is, somehow, a major-tournament debutant.
At 25, Erling Haaland finally steps onto the biggest stage — and he dragged Norway here almost single-handedly, with 16 goals in a flawless qualifying campaign.
There is history in the air too. The 2026 final will be played in East Rutherford: the same site where his father, Alf-Inge, sat suspended in the stands as Norway went out of World Cup 1994.
The son arrives to write his own version, and Iraq’s defenders get the first unenviable go at trying to stop him.
Michael Cox breaks down what makes him so lethal, right here.
