Haaland on fire: striker's five goals lead Norway to 11-1 win

Dominance, destruction, demolition... Norway's 11-goal spree in their World Cup qualifier against Moldova in Oslo on Tuesday could be described in so many ways. Long story short: Erling Haaland and co. look to be heading to the country's first World Cup since 1998, and in some style.

Unstoppable Haaland does it again

Although he eases up from time to time in a Manchester City jersey, Haaland is unstoppable for his national team. He made his mark in his eighth consecutive game for Norway, scoring 14 goals in that period. 

His five goals against Moldova (as Norway won 11-1) brought back memories of Austria's Hans Krankl, who scored six times against Malta in 1977, also in a World Cup qualifier.

On Tuesday, Haaland also became the first Norwegian in the 21st century to score four goals in a single match. What's more, the Leeds-born striker can also take comfort in the fact that for the first time in his national team career, he has more goals (47) than starts (45).

Haaland needed just 10 shots to score five against Moldova, which generated an xG of 2.53. Meanwhile, the Manchester City star touched the ball in the opponent's box on 17 occasions. That's not to mention his two assists.

Huge xG numbers

The highest measured xG value in elite competitions had previously been achieved by Liverpool, who beat Newcastle 4-2 on January 1st, 2024. Mohamed Salah and his teammates then reached an incredible xG of 7.20.

The Norwegians did even better on Tuesday, notching an xG of 7.55 against Moldova. Their xGOT metric (which quantifies the likelihood of an on-target shot becoming a goal by considering the shot's placement and the goalkeeper's position and reaction) even climbed to 9.48.

The next fact will surprise and perhaps shock many. After their huge win, the Norwegians boast a total xG in five games of 19.13, jumping to the top of the European qualifiers in this metric.

In doing so, they deprived Croatia of the top spot (15.31 from four games), ahead of whom the Czech Republic, perhaps surprisingly, reigned supreme earlier in the week (12.34 from five games).

Super sub of the year?

A large portion of fans may not have even heard of Norway's other star performer. Thelo Aasgaard, a midfielder for Rangers, came on in the 64th minute in Oslo. After just a quarter of an hour on the pitch, he had already scored a hat-trick.

His first and third goals were separated by only 13 minutes. The former Luton and Wigan player eventually managed to net four times. He needed just six shots and 18 touches, 10 of which were in the opposition's penalty area, to rack up his incredible tally. Aasgaard's xG? 2.34.

11 goals!

For the third time in history, and the first time in 77 years, Norway scored 11 (or more) goals.

The highest ever win for them was in 1946, when they beat Finland 12-0 in a friendly. Two years later, the Norwegians defeated the United States 11-0.

A quick glance at the Flashscore statistics reveals other interesting facts, too. The Norwegians produced 34 shots, 18 of which were on the Moldovan goal. The same number, 18, is given for their big chances.

Haaland and co. shot 29 times inside the penalty area, where they had 81 touches. The referees did not call a single offside in the entire match.

It is also worth mentioning the performance of Fulham midfielder Sander Berge, who had 142 touches of the ball, which only led the number of touches made by Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard (135).

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