Erling Haaland is a Norwegian professional footballer who has represented the Norway national team as a forward since his debut in 2019. Since then, Haaland has scored 43 goals in 44 international appearances, making him the country's all-time top scorer. On 10 October 2024, Haaland scored a brace in Norway's 3–0 2024–25 UEFA Nations League B win over Slovenia, reaching 34 international goals and overtaking Jørgen Juve's record that had stood since 1937 to become the all-time top scorer for Norway, at the age of 24. [1]
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Haaland made his debut for Norway on 5 September 2019, against Malta, starting in the 2–0 home win in UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying. [2] Almost a year later, Haaland scored his first senior international goal for Norway on 4 September 2020, in a 2–1 loss against Austria in the 2020–21 Nations League B. [3] He would finish the 2020–21 Nations League as the competition's top scorer with six goals, [4] a feat that he replicated in the 2022–23 edition between June and September 2022, finishing as the joint-top scorer of the competition. [5]
On 11 October 2020, Haaland scored his first international hat-trick in Norway's 4–0 victory over Romania in a Nations League B match, bringing his tally for the senior team to six goals in six matches played. [6] He has scored four international hat-tricks, with the other hat-tricks coming in a 5–1 win against Gibraltar in a 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier in September 2021, three goals in a 3–0 friendly victory over Kosovo in June 2024, and three goals in a 5–0 Nations League win against Kazakhstan in November 2024. Out of all his opponents, he has scored the most against Cyprus, Slovenia, and Sweden, netting four goals against each team. Haaland has scored nineteen goals in the Nations League, five goals in World Cup qualifiers, and six goals in European Championship qualifiers. His other eight goals have come in friendly matches. His most productive calendar year in terms of international goals was 2024, when he scored eleven goals in ten games.
