Overview

• Norway routed Moldova 11-1 in Oslo, with Erling Haaland scoring five and substitute Thelo Aasgaard adding four after coming on in the second half.
• Ståle Solbakken’s side leads Group I with 15 points from five matches, six ahead of Italy, which has a game in hand; group winners qualify automatically and runners-up face playoffs.
• Haaland’s haul lifted him to 48 goals in 45 caps and nine in this qualifying campaign, maintaining a scoring rate of more than a goal per game for his country.
• The five goals marked the most by a European man in a World Cup qualifier since Austria’s Hans Krankl scored six in 1977.
• Haaland played with stitches from a minor bus-door injury the day before the match, while the defeat kept Moldova bottom of the group with zero points.