ERLING HAALAND has become Norway’s all-time leading goalscorer.
The Manchester City striker went into Thursday night’s Nations League clash against Slovenia only one behind Jorgen Juve, who scored his 33 goals nearly a century ago.
It took Haaland only seven minutes to equal the mark, the 24-year-old converting a rebound emphatically.
And in the 62nd minute he tucked a side-footed effort into the bottom corner for his 34th international goal to hold the record outright.
Haaland, who recently reached the 100-goal mark for City in only 105 appearances, has been just as prolific for his country as his club, with his historic feat coming in just 36 matches.
He made his Norway debut in September 2019 against Malta, scoring his first goal the following year against Austria.
Haaland has scored three hat-tricks for his country – against Romania, Gibraltar and Kosovo.
Elsewhere, Belgium bounced back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with 10-man Italy in Rome on Thursday to boost their hopes of reaching the Nations League quarter-finals.
Maxim De Cuyper and Leandro Trossard got the goals as Belgium, in third place, pulled to within three points of Group A2 leaders Italy who lost midfielder Lorenzo Pellegrini to a straight red card seven minutes before half-time.
“Sometimes there are matches which aren’t decided by what the players put out on the pitch,” said Italy coach Luciano Spalletti to RAI.
“We didn’t concede many chances in front of (Gianluigi) Donnarumma because we didn’t struggle that much. We were punished at set pieces where they were also a bit lucky.”
Italy were deservedly two ahead when Pellegrini was sent off for a dangerous foul on Arthur Theate, an offence which led directly to De Cuyper halving the deficit in the 42nd minute with a brilliant long-range strike.
Andrea Cambiaso opened the scoring with his first international goal with 61 seconds on the clock and Mateo Retegui tapped in the hosts’ second midway through the first half as vibrant Italy looked to continue their post-Euro 2024 revival.
Instead, Belgium, missing injured Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku, who is trying to regain full fitness with Napoli, took a point.
And Domenico Tedesco’s team were stunned when Alessandro Bastoni’s clumsy challenge on Lois Openda was not punished with a penalty which would have completely shaken up a tight group.
“You can’t look at one incident and then judge the referee. It wasn’t an easy match to officiate,” said Tedesco to RAI.
“We can’t really complain because the red card changed the match for us… It was a sending off but it undoubtedly helped us.”
Belgium host second-placed France on Monday knowing a win will put them above Les Bleus and into one of the two places which ensure a spot in the last eight.
Italy meanwhile face Israel in Udine and are heavy favourites to maintain top spot in the group after playing some excellent football while still with 11 men on the pitch.
Spalletti’s Azzurri also showed great spirit to not collapse after Trossard poked home Wout Faes’ knockdown to level the scores with nearly half an hour remaining.
Both their goals came at the end of fine passing moves with wing-backs Federico Dimarco and Cambiaso at the heart of the play for a team who look revitalised after a humiliating title defence at the most recent European Championship.
Additional reporting by AFP
UEFA Nations League results on Thursday:
League A – Group 2
Israel 1 (Gandelman 24) France 4 (Camavinga 6, Nkunku 28, Guendouzi 87, Barcola 89)
Italy 2 (Cambiaso 1, Retegui 24) Belgium 2 (De Cuyper 42, Trossard 61)
League B – Group 2
England 1 (Bellingham 87) Greece 2 (Pavlidis 49, 90+4)
Finland 1 (Pohjanpalo 17) Republic of Ireland 2 (Scales 57, Brady 88)
League B – Group 3
Norway 3 (Haaland 7, 62, Sorloth 52) Slovenia 0
Austria 4 (Baumgartner 10, Lienhart 53, Sabitzer 56, Seidl 79) Kazakhstan 0
League C – Group 4
Faroe Islands 2 (Benjaminsen 37, Bjartalid 85) Armenia 2 (Zelarayan 44, Manvelyan 90+3)
Latvia 0 North Macedonia 3 (Atanasov 35, Kjamili 70, Elmas 90+3)
League D – Group 1
Gibraltar 1 (Britto 62) San Marino 0
League D – Group 2
Moldova 2 (Ionita 31, Cojocaru 90+5) Andorra 0
