Erling Haaland continued his historic international goalscoring run, netting twice to power Norway to a 3–2 victory over Denmark in their opening Group A4 fixture of the UEFA Nations League.
Norway asserted early dominance, with Oscar Bobb opening the scoring in the 14th minute following a setup from Martin Ødegaard. Haaland doubled the advantage just four minutes later, capitalizing on an assist from Antonio Nusa.
Denmark mounted a spirited comeback, halving the deficit through Mikkel Damsgaard in the 25th minute before Rasmus Højlund restored parity on the hour mark.
However, Haaland delivered the decisive blow in the 74th minute, converting Ødegaard’s pass to seal his second goal of the match and Norway’s third, wrapping up a thrilling five-goal contest.
With his opening strike, Haaland reached 64 international goals, matching the legendary West German forward Gerd Müller’s tally over his first 56 international appearances. He then eclipsed the record altogether with his second goal, bringing his international tally to 65 goals in 56 caps for Norway.
The Manchester City striker thus surpassed Müller’s benchmark for the most goals scored across an athlete’s opening 56 international appearances. The legendary Bayern Munich forward had registered 64 goals in that span for West Germany, whom he eventually led to the 1974 FIFA World Cup title.
Haaland’s brace also improved his recent international output to 30 goals in his last 16 competitive matches for Norway, propelling his national side to the top of Group 4 ahead of their upcoming encounter against Portugal on September 27.
