Erling Haaland scored for the fifth time in this World Cup for Norway to beat Ivory Coast this Tuesday (30) and guarantee a place in the round of 16, where they will face Brazil on Sunday (5), at 5 pm, in New Jersey. The striker reached 60 goals in 53 matches played for the national team.
The player’s performance has been fundamental for the team to equal its best campaign in the World Cup, in 1998, when it also reached the round of 16.
In this edition, he took the field in 3 of the team’s 4 games, remaining on the bench in the duel against France in the group stage. He scored twice against Iraq on his debut and twice against Senegal.
Erling is part of a sports family. His mother, Gry Marita Braut, was a heptathlon athlete — an athletics discipline that brings together seven events, including running, jumping and throwing. His father, Alf-Inge Haaland, also played football and was on the team at the 1994 World Cup. Unlike his son, the former right-back never found the net in 34 appearances for the Nordic national team.
But Erling followed in his footsteps by playing for Manchester City, the club Alfie defended for three seasons. Haaland Sr. also played for Nottingham Forest and Leeds, the British city where the current Norwegian goalscorer was born.
In addition, three of the 25-year-old center forward’s maternal cousins are professional players. Jonatan Braut Brunes plays in the first division of the Polish league, Albert Tjaaland plays in a regional division in Norway and Emma Braut Brunes is a defender for Denmark’s Brondby IF.
Since arriving at Manchester City, Haaland has been the Premier League’s top scorer in 3 of the 4 seasons he has played. There were 36 goals in 2023, 27 in 2024 and 27 in 2026. In 2025, his 22 goals were behind only Mohamed Salah, who scored 29, and Alexander Isak, who scored 23 times.
His debut for the national team took place in 2019, at the age of 19. The first goal came a year later, against Austria in the 2020 Nations League. Since then, he has scored six hat-tricks (when a player scores three goals in a match). In a duel against Moldova in the European Cup qualifiers, the 11-1 defeat in September last year, he scored five times and provided two more assists.
With five goals in this World Cup, he takes second place in the competition, behind only Lionel Messi, who has six.
