Erling Haaland made history on Thursday by becoming Norway’s all-time leading goalscorer, netting twice in a 3-0 Nations League victory over Slovenia.
Captaining his country, the 24-year-old Manchester City striker reached the milestone with his 33rd and 34th international goals, surpassing the previous record set by Jorgen Juve.
Haaland opened the scoring in the seventh minute, reacting quickly to fire in a rebound after Slovenia’s goalkeeper Jan Oblak parried Antonio Nusa’s shot. This goal tied him with Juve’s 33-goal record.
After missing a header early in the second half, Haaland made no mistake in the 62nd minute, slotting home from an Alexander Sørloth pass to claim the outright record with his 34th goal in just 36 international appearances.
“Of course, it is big and historic. I’m happy, and it’s a fantastic record to achieve … I have many years left. I’m enjoying myself,” Haaland said, as quoted by Reuters.
Sorloth added a second goal for Norway in the second half that ensured his nation top League B Group 3 with seven points, three ahead of Austria and Slovenia, with Kazakhstan bottom on one point.
Haaland captained in the absence of regular skipper Martin Odegaard, who missed the game due to injury.
Despite the win, Haaland was cautious about managing expectations ahead of Norway’s upcoming away fixture against Austria.
“Now we have a hard away game — even though we won at home, we must not build up (expectations) too much, we must not hype ourselves up too much,” he said.
Haaland is leading the way as the Premier League’s top scorer this season with 10 goals in seven appearances for City.
(Terje Pedersen /NTB/AFP via Getty Images)
