Norway have players like Erling Haaland and Martin Ødegaard but haven't made a World Cup since 1998. Now they have, and it has taken some change.

Italy lost 4-1 to Norway in the FIFA World Cup qualifying at San Siro on Sunday evening.Italy needed to score at least nine unanswered goals to secure automatic qualification, but after a strong

Star striker Erling Haaland has helped fire the European nation back to the global finals for the first time in 28 years. After 28 years away, Norway are making a return to the FIFA World Cup™.

After Erling Haaland's Norway doomed it to the UEFA playoffs, Italy national team will have two more matches to secure a place back in the World Cup. Erling Haaland has led Norway through a historic run in the UEFA 2026 World Cup qualifiers,

Portugal on Sunday booked their ticket to next year’s FIFA World Cup with a 9-1 victory over Armenia, while an Erling Haaland brace rubber-stamped Norway’s place in the global showpiece as they romped to a 4-1 win in Italy.

The result left Magnus Carlsen impressed, and the world No. 1 chess star took to X to react to Norway's FIFA World Cup qualification.

While Norway’s ’Golden Generation’ have impressively maintained a 100% record throughout qualifying, Italy’s perfect campaign post-Oslo humbling means they still have a chance, albeit a very, very, very slim one, of usurping the group leaders on the final matchday and qualifying for the World Cup automatically.

One of the biggest weeks in Norwegian soccer for a generation risks being tarnished by the admission from a leading player that he is likely to be convicted of sharing an illegal video.