Odegaard celebrates World Cup qualification after injury update | OneFootball

Martin Odegaard celebrated Norway’s World Cup qualification on Sunday night, after giving a positive injury update earlier in the day.

Photo via Odegaard on Instagram

Last Thursday, Norway all but confirmed their qualification for the World Cup with a win over Estonia, leaving them only needing to avoid a nine-goal defeat to Italy on the Sunday.

Thurday’s match had hung in the balance for a while, with Estonia making it to half-time at 0-0. But Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard reportedly gave the team some inspiration at the interval.

“We needed that,” David Moller Wolfe said afterwards. “[Odegaard] gives a huge sense of security – both before the game and at halftime.”

“It actually paid off quite quickly in the second half,” Orjan Haskjold Nyland agreed. “It’s nice to have outside observations that we can use.”

Photo via Odegaard on Instagram

As Nyland mentioned, Norway were transformed in the second half, scoring four goals in a 12-minute spell between the 50th and 62nd minute to kill the contest.

Winning the Estonia match 4-1, the weekend game against Italy effectively became a dead rubber, even if qualification wasn’t mathematically confirmed yet.

Ahead of that final group match, Odegaard explained why he’s been with the national team despite his injury, as well as sharing a positive fitness update.

“I’m here to support the boys,” Odegaard began. “We’ve been working for this for a long, long time. It was important for me to be here with them.

“[My knee injury is] moving forward. The match today came a little too early… But it’s starting to look better, so hopefully I’ll be back soon.”

Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images

Once again, Norway won the game 4-1 thanks to a second-half masterclass, this time coming from 1-0 down at the break to score in the 63rd, 78th, 79th, and 93rd minutes. The team ended up finishing top of the group by six points and a goal difference gap of +23.

“It’s indescribable,” Odegaard said afterwards. “Absolutely insane. The way we did it is incredible. It’s something huge.”

Norway join England, France, Croatia, and Portugal in achieving World Cup qualification through the UEFA qualifiers, and Odegaard will now return to Arsenal.

The hope is that the midfielder will be match fit soon, with Arsenal facing Tottenham Hotspur, Bayern Munich, and Chelsea in their next three games.