哈兰德世界杯首秀梅开二度，挪威队惊艳全场🦾

The shock Haaland stat after debut World Cup brace for Norway 🦾

A New England evening was the perfect setting for Norway and star man Erling Haaland to announce their return to the biggest stage in football, ousting Iraq 4-1 in Boston.

It was an intriguing battle on the day, but the script-writers would take control and typecast the Man City star in a role he is more than familiar with.

An opener in the 29th minute, and a second in the 43rd to push Norway back into a lead that would hold until the full-time whistle, was perhaps a return that no one, not even Haaland, would have been shocked by.

A brace on his World Cup debut, in a tournament where he'll be one of a handful of world-class attackers expected to set North America alight, saw the 25-year-old increase his tally for Norway to 57 goals in just 51 caps.

But perhaps most impressive of all, it's Haaland's continued trend of busting through the door in competitions he had yet to appear in.

Across a brilliant career, Haaland has now bagged debut goals in the Champions League (RB Salzburg), Bundesliga (Dortmund), Premier League (Man City), and now, the World Cup.

One of six players, Mbappé, Havertz, Balogun, Ayari, and Just (all behind tournament-leader Lionel Messi's 3), to bank a brace in their group opener, there will no doubt be plenty of eyes on the Norwegian goal machine in what could be a hotly contested race for the Golden Boot.