Haaland double leaves Norway on verge of World Cup qualification | OneFootball

Erling Haaland’s red-hot scoring form continued as Norway edged within touching distance of World Cup qualification with a 4-1 win over Estonia.

Skipper Haaland scored twice in the space of six second-half minutes to leave Italy needing to overturn a goal difference deficit of 19 with two games remaining – one against the Norwegians on Sunday.

GET YOUR MANCHESTER DERBY TICKETS

Our No.9 has now scored 30 goals for club and country in just 19 games, and an incredible 10 in his last three for Norway.

Though qualification is almost certain, it won’t be mathematically certain unless Italy drop points against Moldova later this evening, or until the end of the final group game at the weekend.

Estonia kept the Norwegians at bay in the first 45, but Alexander Sørloth broke the deadlock after 50 minutes to start a blistering spell in the Ullevaal Stadium for the hosts.

Sørloth scored again two minutes later, before Haaland’s quickfire double made it four goals in the space of 12 minutes.

Haaland’s first goal was assisted by Julian Ryerson before turning home David Wolfe’s assist with a thumping volley shortly after.

Estonia pulled a consolation back two minutes after that, with the game already over as a contest.

Oscar Bobb played for 69 minutes before making way for Andreas Schjelderup .

Haaland is likely to face friend and club team-mate Gianluigi Donnarumma in what should be a formality to complete qualification for Norway

Elsewhere, Rayan Ait-Nouri banked a useful 62 minutes under his belt as Algeria beat Zimbabwe 3-1 in a friendly at the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Sports City Stadium in Saudi Arabia.

The City left-back, making his way back to full match fitness, made way for Mehdi Dorval just past the hour, by which time the Algerians were already 3-0 up thanks to goals from Bounedjah, Amoura and Hadjam.

More to follow…