Historic night for Haaland and Norway against Moldova | OneFootball

Goals rained down in Oslo on Tuesday as Norway delivered a stunning 11-1 demolition of Moldova, a historic night both for the country and for Erling Haaland, who netted five times.

The result marks the second-biggest win in European World Cup Qualifying history, trailing only West Germany’s 12-0 rout of Cyprus on 21 May 1969.

Across all European qualifiers, just four games have seen 11 or more goals. In addition to Norway’s victory and the German record, Hungary beat Greece 11-1 in 1938, while Macedonia matched that scoreline against Liechtenstein in 1996.

For Norway, the 11-1 triumph is their largest ever win in official competition and the third-largest including friendlies. Back in 1946, they hammered Finland 12-0, with Paul Saethrang and Gunnar Thoresen both bagging hat-tricks. Two years later, Norway recorded an 11-0 friendly victory over the United States.

Magic Night for Haaland

Erling Haaland was the undisputed star, though Thelo Aasgaard also shone. The young midfielder, recently signed by Rangers, came on in the 64th minute and scored an astonishing four goals - the most he has ever scored in a single match.

Haaland, generously letting Aasgaard take a penalty, notched his first five-goal haul for the national side. He had previously achieved the feat twice for Manchester City, against RB Leipzig in 2023 and Luton Town in 2024.

The striker didn’t just score; he added two assists, finishing the night with seven direct goal contributions - the best tally of his career. Haaland now boasts more goals than appearances for Norway, with 48 in 45 games.

With this performance, Haaland became only the eighth player in European Qualifying history to net five in a single match. He is the sole Norwegian on the list, which also features Isidro Lángara (Spain vs Portugal, 1934), Gyula Zsengellér (Hungary vs Greece, 1938), Erich Probst (Austria vs Portugal, 1953), Thadée Cisowski (France vs Belgium, 1956), Erich Hof (Austria vs Cyprus, 1968), Wlodzimierz Lubanski (Poland vs Luxembourg, 1969) and Hans Krankl (Austria vs Malta, 1977).