Erling Haaland has played in one FIFA World Cup so far: the 2026 tournament co-hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

World Cup debut and performance

Haaland made his World Cup debut on 16 June 2026 , starting for Norway in a 4–1 win over Iraq in Foxborough, Massachusetts. He scored twice in that match (in the 29th and 43rd minutes), instantly becoming one of the standout performers of the tournament’s opening week.

Key points from his 2026 World Cup run so far:

  • Tournament : 2026 FIFA World Cup (Canada–Mexico–USA)
  • Games played : 1 (as of mid-June 2026; Norway still had two group matches left vs Senegal and France)
  • Goals : 2 (both against Iraq)
  • Role : Starting striker, wearing Norway’s number 9 shirt

By scoring twice on his debut, Haaland equalled Norway’s all-time World Cup goals record in a single match, matching the total previously set by Kjetil Rekdal across multiple tournaments.

Why it took so long

Despite being one of the world’s top scorers at club level for years, Haaland had never appeared at a World Cup before 2026 because Norway failed to qualify for the 2018 and 2022 editions. The Norwegian national team’s last World Cup appearance before 2026 was in 1998 , long before Haaland was born.

His 2026 participation ended a 28-year World Cup absence for Norway and finally gave Haaland a stage at football’s biggest tournament.

TL;DR

  • Number of World Cups played : 1 (2026)
  • World Cup games : 1 so far (group stage vs Iraq)
  • World Cup goals : 2

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.