Norway clinched their first World Cup appearance since 1998 after Erling Haaland delivered another decisive performance in a commanding 4-1 victory over Italy on Sunday, securing their place in next summer’s finals across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Haaland netted a crucial brace within seconds at a rain-soaked San Siro, as Norway finished Group I with a flawless 24 points from eight qualifying fixtures.
Norway would have needed to lose by nine goals or more for Italy to overtake them for the group’s sole automatic qualification spot, but Stale Solbakken’s squad concluded their campaign in spectacular fashion before 70,000 spectators.
Solbakken remained cautious about his team’s prospects despite ending a 28-year absence from the tournament. “Let’s see the draw first… I haven’t even thought about it. For me, it (tonight) was to go from 99 percent to 100 percent and now we have done it in a great way,” Solbakken told reporters. “Let’s see what the draw brings before we go into those questions.”
Haaland’s father Alf-Inge was still representing Norway when they last participated in the World Cup 27 years ago, a tournament claimed by a Zinedine Zidane-led France.
🚨🇳🇴 HAALAND GIVES NORWAY THE LEAD AGAINST ITALY! WHAT A GOAL! pic.twitter.com/zYURItEjsl
— Tekkers Foot (@tekkersfoot) November 16, 2025
The Manchester City forward, described as a “goal machine” by Solbakken, will be among the stars to watch in North America after netting 16 goals throughout qualifying. The 25-year-old is maintaining better than a goal-per-game average for both club and country this season and displayed his characteristic clinical finishing when provided opportunities to put Norway ahead and extend their advantage in the 78th and 79th minutes.
Norway Overwhelm Italy
Pio Esposito gave Italy an early lead in the 11th minute, but after Antonio Nusa equalized with a powerful strike in the 63rd minute, only one side appeared capable of winning. Jorgen Strand Larsen’s outstanding solo effort completed the demolition in stoppage time.
Italy will enter the play-offs in March after concluding the group six points behind Norway following two comprehensive defeats to Solbakken’s team, and departed the San Siro pitch to loud whistles from the remaining home supporters.
Coach Gennaro Gattuso apologized to fans during his brief interview with public broadcaster RAI and expressed clear concern about the second-half breakdown.
“It’s worrying, I’d be a liar to say that it doesn’t concern me, because when you have nights like this it’s much easier if you can stay together, improve the day to day,” said Gattuso. “What worries me is that we’ll next see each other in three months’ time.”
Italy’s pursuit of automatic qualification was undermined from their opening fixture against Norway, a 3-0 loss that concluded Luciano Spalletti’s tenure as coach.[5][4]
While the Azzurri have improved under Gattuso, they lack a player of Haaland’s caliber disappointing for a nation that has produced some of football’s greatest talents.
Italy previously failed to reach the last two World Cups due to devastating play-off defeats against Sweden and North Macedonia, the latter occurring less than a year after winning the 2021 European Championship.