Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has lauded Erling Haaland for his pivotal role in leading Norway to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, their first appearance in the tournament since 1998. Guardiola highlighted the significance of this achievement, pointing out the generational gap within the Norwegian squad by saying, "Many of the Norway squad were not even born the last time they were in the World Cup".

Haaland's contribution to Norway's qualification was immense. In a crucial match against Italy, Norway secured a 4-1 victory, with Haaland scoring a decisive brace. His two goals in that game brought his qualifying tally to 16, a figure that is double the amount of the next highest scorer in the campaign. Throughout the eight qualifying matches, Haaland accounted for nearly half of Norway's 37 goals, demonstrating his importance to the team.

"He's been incredible this season, breaking a lot of individual, personal, Premier League, and Norway records," Guardiola said, acknowledging Haaland's record-breaking form. Since joining Manchester City in 2022, Haaland has consistently broken records in the Premier League and for his club. This season alone, the 24-year-old has scored 19 goals in 15 appearances across all competitions.

Norway's journey to the World Cup was marked by an undefeated record of 8 matches in the group stage, which helped them clinch a direct ticket to the finals. This will be Norway's fourth appearance in the World Cup finals. The last time Norway qualified for a major tournament was EURO 2000, making their qualification for the 2026 World Cup all the more significant, ending a streak of 12 consecutive failed campaigns.

Haaland has also become Norway's all-time top scorer, with 55 goals in 48 appearances, surpassing Jorgen Juve's long-standing record from 1937. In their qualifying group, Norway scored an impressive 35 goals while only conceding five.

Guardiola emphasized Haaland's deserving place on the global stage, stating, "His status as a football player — a world-class player — means he deserves to experience the World Cup. He's the perfect age, mature, and I'm so happy for him".

With Haaland leading the team, Norway is heading to the 2026 World Cup with high hopes and renewed global attention. Norway became the 32nd team to secure their place at the global tournament, which will be held in Mexico, Canada, and the United States. Haaland had admitted that returning Norway to the finals was one of his main ambitions since his first call-up in 2019. The victory over Italy was celebrated by over 5,000 Norwegian supporters at San Siro. Midfielder Patrick Berg said, "We're over the moon with what we've achieved in the qualifiers; it honestly couldn't have gone any better for us".

Haaland's brace against Italy also saw him equal Robert Lewandowski's record of 16 goals from the Russia 2018 qualifying campaign. He also became the first player to score in all of his side's games when playing more than six matches in the continent's qualifying competition.