Norway 3 – 2 Senegal

Erling Haaland’s second-half double saw Norway beat Senegal 3-2 at a rain-soaked MetLife Stadium as Stel Solbakken’s side joined France in qualifying for the last 32 of the World Cup.

After Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe both scored twice for Argentina and France respectively, it was no surprise that the Man City striker responded with his 58th and 59th goals in his 52nd international for Norway, while the in-form marksman has now registered his last 12 competitive appearances for his country.

Indeed, the 25-year-old was disappointed not to score a hat-trick in a clash in New York that some believed prompted a flood watch to be issued by the US National Weather Service for the region and nearby New York after fans were briefly cleared from the stadium by heavy rain about four hours before kick-off.

However, the predicted torrential rain stayed away during the match, allowing Norway to record their second win of the tournament, which they had managed in all their previous World Cups, and they now face France on Friday to decide who will win Group I.

Meanwhile, Senegal will need to score goals in their final clash with Iraq if they are to join Norway and France in the knockouts.

Highlights from New York…

43 – Goal! Sub Pedersen opened the scoring after mistakes by Koulibaly and Mendy

45 – Post! Haaland hits the post with another Mendy error

48 – Goal! Haaland rifles home into the roof of the net to become Norway’s all-time leading scorer at the World Cup!

53 – Goal! Ismaila Sarr pulled one back with a fine finish after setting up Mane’s neat flick on the edge of the box.

58 – Goal! Haaland’s close-range finish restored Norway’s two-goal cushion

90+3 – Goal! The finish by Ismaila Sarr sets up a nervy finish in East Rutherford.

What Messi and Mbappe can do, Erling can match

You could see from the kick-off in New Jersey on Monday night that Erling Haaland was up for it, with Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe no doubt grabbing the headlines after both hitting impressive doubles in their previous group games.

Not to be outdone, striker East Rutherford responded with an eye-catching brace of his own in the rain to become Norway’s all-time leading scorer at the World Cup and help his side into the knockouts, where in such form, nobody would want to face them.

The Man City frontman looked frustrated at half-time after spurning a presentable chance seconds earlier when he hit the post after another terrible Edouard Mendy mistake.

But when his next chance came moments later, his finish was clinical, as it was his second just before the hour mark, meaning he has now scored at least one goal in 18 of his last 21 competitive national team appearances.

Not only that, Haaland became only the sixth player to score multiple goals in each of his first two World Cup appearances to set a marker for his striker rivals at the tournament.

‘Haaland is on fire – he’s the best striker’

Norwegian boss Stel Solbakken:

“Well, I mean, today he (Haaland) missed an open goal and he could have even scored four goals.

“No, I mean, he’s the best striker – he’s not playing for France or Argentina, he’s scored for Norway. He’s got four goals now, two braces on the biggest stage.

“It’s easy to win the Golden Boot when you play for France and Argentina, but we’ll try to give Erling more games, and help more in the next games. So he’s on fire and I’m very happy for him that he can score on the biggest stage.

“We haven’t started that plan (for France) yet, so now we will go back to our camp and recover well because we need it after a very difficult game, and there will be other players who will play that game.

Norway striker Erling Haaland:

“I don’t care, we’re through – they (France) will probably beat us and win the whole tournament!”

What does the result mean?

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