If there is a stage that is too big for Erling Haaland, we're yet to find it.

A hat-trick on his Champions League debut for RB Salzburg, a hat-trick on his Bundesliga debut for Dortmund, a double on his Premier League debut for Manchester City, and now two goals on his World Cup finals debut, inspiring Norway to a 4-1 win over Iraq.

The 2026 World Cup might be six days in, but it felt as if it really began on Tuesday, with Kylian Mbappe inspiring France to a 3-1 victory over Senegal with two superb goals which made him Les Bleus' all-time leading scorer.

Little over an hour later, Haaland strode out for his first World Cup appearance and picked up the gauntlet thrown by Mbappe, nearly 18 months his senior, with a display full of desire, as well as the goals we have come to expect.

Norway manager Stale Solbakken said afterwards: "You can see he lived up to the occasion - it wasn't too big for him.

"I had a good feeling before the game, the last training session was very good. I had a feeling he would do it for us today."

Iraq head coach Graham Arnold added: "He's just an amazing number nine. We dealt with him quite well for a lot of the game [but] at the end of the day he's a top striker.

"Norway could shock a lot of people with the team they have. They could go a very long way."

Arnold spoke to Haaland after the final whistle and revealed: "I just said to him: 'You're one of the best number nines I've ever seen.' He's so strong, so quick and he's just lethal."

'It just had to be him'

Haaland had fewer touches in the first half than any other player, just 11, but his influence could not have been greater as he slid in to stab home David Moller Wolfe's teasing cross from the left just before the half-hour - Norway's first World Cup finals goal in 10,220 days. The last, in 1998, came 759 days before he was born.

Speaking on BBC One, co-commentator Stephen Warnock said: "One thing you know is that guy Haaland will find it, he will do everything he can to get on the end of it. A simple finish for a man of his quality. It just had to be him."

After Iraq had briefly levelled with a towering Aymen Hussein header which had more than a touch of Haaland about it, the 25-year-old was rewarded for his commitment to chasing down a backpass, as keeper Jalal Hassan dallied, by charging an attempted clearance into the net.

It looked inevitable the 55th hat-trick in World Cup history would follow, but Haaland was denied by Jalal's block after pouncing on another loose pass late on while his looping header in added time was bundled over his own line by Hussein.

Haaland is the sixth player to score twice in their opening game at this World Cup.

Warnock added: "He could be the difference maker as to how far Norway go in this competition."

'You could see what Norway means to him'

Haaland now has 57 goals in 51 appearances for Norway - his goals-per-game ratio exceeds those of all-time greats Gerd Muller, of West Germany, and Hungary's Sandor Kocsis.

In fact, it is the third best of any player to have scored at least 50 international goals.

Only England's pre-World War One legend Vivian Woodward and Denmark's Poul Nielsen in the 1920s have scored at a faster rate.

Former England striker Ellen White, who scored 52 goals for her country, said on BBC One: "The quality and physicality round the box from Haaland was on another level. He wants to be top goalscorer in this tournament."

Former Wales defender Ashley Williams added: "What impressed me was his desire. You could see what it meant to him the way he was pressing and doing the ugly bits.

"I would argue that he did more today for Norway than we see him do for Man City. If there is a criticism, sometimes he is a bit quiet for Man City.

"Today he took on a leadership role, he was driving the team forward. It wasn't just his finishing which he has, it was an all-round good performance and you can see what it meant for his team to be at the World Cup." (BBC, but headline reworked)

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