The venue where one footballing great’s World Cup journey ended will witness the beginning for another. Little did anybody know at the time that Diego Maradona’s appearance for Argentina against Nigeria in 1994 would be his last on football’s biggest stage. It was then the Foxboro Stadium. Fast forward 32 years. Same place, different name. At the Boston Stadium, Erling Haaland will play in the World Cup for the first time as Norway face Iraq on Tuesday.
Norway head coach Ståle Solbakken, 58, has no doubt about his striker’s readiness. “I think he is the world’s best goalscorer,” Solbakken said. “He is physically fit. I think he has gradually played better and better in training. He is where he wants to be and hopefully the team can give him the service he needs to get goals. If you give Erling chances, he has a tendency to score.”
“Erling Haaland makes his World Cup debut for Norway against Iraq at the Boston Stadium, where Maradona last played.”
The coach also dismissed speculation linking Haaland with Real Madrid. “We haven’t talked about it at all,” Solbakken said. “It doesn’t interest me and I haven’t heard anything about it.”
Tore André Flo, the former Chelsea striker, believes this is the most talented Norwegian squad in history. “I think so, yes,” Flo said. “If you look at their abilities with the ball, where they play, we have the top scorer in the Premier League and the captain of the team that won the Premier League. So there are some big superstars in this team. There are now more than two. There are lots of players who can positively decide a result. There are threats on the wings, centrally, the opportunities can come from anywhere. Offensively they are very strong.”
Flo also shrugged off any sense that Haaland could wilt under expectation. “Every year he is going to a new level,” he said.
Haaland and captain Martin Ødegaard will make their World Cup debuts together, a moment 28 years in the making for Norwegian football. Flo acknowledged the weight of history: “It is 28 years since we have been here so they have already achieved something that the Norwegian people are happy about. Yes, there is some pressure but there are a lot of other teams with more pressure than Norway.”