Erling Haaland’s 9-goal game: The World Cup record that will never be broken

 Erling Haaland has been breaking records for the vast majority of his career, including in the Premier League and the Champions League. But his World Cup legacy has only just begun and he, obviously, started off strongly, scoring twice in Norway’s opening 4-1 win over Iraq in Group I.

Haaland has, however, technically lit up the World Cup before, and in typically devastating fashion.

Haaland’s unforgettable U20 World Cup performance

The Manchester City striker has been playing, and scoring goals, for his country since U15 level. Haaland was part of the Norway youth team that took part in the U20 World Cup in Poland and, quite incredibly, scored nine goals in a 12-0 thrashing of Honduras in the group stage.

At age 18 and playing for Red Bull Salzburg, Haaland netted four times in the first half before going one better after halftime. After scoring his ninth goal in the final minute, he still had time for one more opportunity to hit double figures, which he missed.

“It annoys me a little bit that I didn’t score with my last kick of the game,” Haaland told the Norwegian Football Association’s website after the game. “I’ll have to sit down and think a little bit about it and maybe I’ll work out what happened.”

Elite mentality.

Ironically, Norway were eliminated in the group stage despite Haaland’s heroics after losing their other two games.

What’s the most goals scored by one player in a World Cup game?

You won’t be surprised to read that nine goals in a single game remains the record by one player at the U20 World Cup. It is also almost double the highest total ever scored by one player in a match at the senior tournament.

At the 1994 World Cup in the United States, Russia striker Oleg Salenko scored five times in his country’s 6-1 thrashing of Cameroon, a tally that has never been surpassed.