Haaland's Performance With Norway Makes Italy Under Pressure

Erling Haaland spread threats to Italy in the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers (Instagram/@herrelandslaget).

JAKARTA - Erling Haaland scored five goals as Norway beat Moldova 11-1 on Wednesday, September 10, 2025, to maintain a perfect record in the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers in the European Zone and remain at the top of Group I with 15 points in five matches.

The five goals were Haaland's highest achievements during his playing for Norway and the most scored by European players in the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers since Austria's Hans Krankl set a UEFA record with six goals against Malta in 1977.

The Manchester City forward played with stitches on his face after colliding with the door when he got out of the team bus on Monday, September 8, 2025.

He scored his fifth international hat-trick before half-time, scoring three goals between the 11th and 43rd minutes. He scored two more goals in the second half, as well as extended his country's record of outstanding goals to 48 goals in 45 games.

This result is the biggest victory in the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers European Zone. The record surpassed the Dutch's win over Malta 8-0 in June 2025 and close to an all-time record, namely West Germany's win over Cyprus 12-0 in 1969 in World Cup Qualifiers. This victory matched Norway's biggest winning margin in competitive matches.

This victory also put Norway six points ahead of Italy in second place. The Azzurri have only played four games with a collection of nine points.

In their latest match, they beat Israel on Tuesday, September 9, 2025, with a narrow 5-4 victory.

Gennaro Gattuso's Azzurri still have one more game to catch Norway. They are trying to avoid finishing in second place because they have to go through the playoffs for the 2026 World Cup.

However, chasing Norway seems difficult. Italy lost 0-3 at the perama meeting in Oslo, June 6, 2025. Haaland contributed one goal in that match.

Moreover, the Azzurri seem to have struggled to win. At the time against Israel alone, a new victory can be ascertained through Sandro Tonali's goal in the second half injury time.

Gattuso, who replaced Luciano Spalletti as Italy coach in June 2025, admitted that it was the highest match ever played as a coach.

"It was my fault and not because of the players. If we want to play in any way, we have to be better at this."

"We are too crazy to attack systematically. That's what Israel has been waiting for. They always attack us through counter-attacks," said Gattuso.

Italy is only ahead of the goal difference with Israel which is in third place in the standings. They can manage the hope to make the top of the standings - even though it was tough - when they met Norway in November 2025.

It was the last qualifying match, hoping that in the other three matches they would slip and Norway would fall.

Italy, four-time World Cup champion, has missed the last two World Cups.