The Norwegians were wide awake in Oslo right from the start. Slovenia keeper Jan Oblak fended off a shot from Antonio Nusa, but the ball fell to Haaland, who scored with his right (7th). For the Manchester City attacker it was his 33rd goal in his 36th international match, drawing level with Norway’s previous record goalscorer Jörgen Juve.
The hosts also got off to a strong start in the second half with the friendly help of the Slovenians. Defender Vanja Drkusic made two mistakes in one scene and passed the ball to Alexander Sörloth, who effortlessly made it 2-0 (52nd). Ten minutes later it was Haaland again who finished off an attack from 14 m. With his 34th goal, the superstar, who scored the winning goal in the 2-1 win over the ÖFB team in September, wrote Norwegian sports history.
Norway, visiting Linz on Sunday, took the lead in the table from the Slovenians (4) after three rounds and seven points. They fell back to third place behind Austria, who dispatched Kazakhstan 4-0.
French industrial victory against Israel
Without the injured Kylian Mbappe, France achieved a working victory against Israel, which was playing its home game in Budapest due to the escalating Middle East conflict. The vice world champion took the lead through Eduardo Camavinga, whose harmless shot overwhelmed goalkeeper Omri Glazer (6th). After an assist from Salzburg’s Oscar Gloukh, the Israelis equalized through Omri Gandelman (24′). Four minutes later, Christopher Nkunku made it 2-1 after a strong individual performance. Matteo Guendouzi (87th) and Bradley Barcola (89th) made it clear shortly before the end.
Bild: (APA/AFP/ALBERTO PIZZOLI)
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Bild: (APA/AFP/ALBERTO PIZZOLI)
In Rome, Italy counterattacked Belgium in the first minute. Federico Dimarco found Andrea Cambiaso, who put the ball into the goal after exactly 60 seconds to take the lead. The attack-like counter-attacks remained a tried and tested recipe for the hosts. Mateo Retegui used a rebound from a Cambiaso shot to make it 2-0 (24th).
But the Squadra Azzurra brought Belgium back into the game. Lorenzo Pellegrini kicked Arthur Theate in the Achilles tendon in front of his own penalty area (39′). Referee Espen Eskas decided on a red card after VAR intervened. As if that wasn’t enough, Maxim De Cuyper scored the next goal with an original free-kick variation (42′). Leandro Trossard made it 2-2 after the break (61′). Italy remains first in Group A2 with seven points ahead of the French (6) and the Belgians (4).
There was a surprising home defeat for England, who lost 2-1 to Greece in stoppage time. Evangelos Pavlidis gave the visitors three points at Wembley Stadium in the 94th minute. The Greeks have three wins after three rounds.