World Cup 2026 Qualifiers: Haaland takes on historic mission

The 2026 World Cup qualifiers continue to heat up, with Erling Haaland the center of attention today (October 11), when his team Norway takes on Israel. Not only is Haaland the hope of his team, he is also haunting Italian fans.

NORTH AUSTRALIA HAS WAITED FOR NEARLY 3 DECADES

In Norway’s last appearance at the World Cup (1998, only their third in history), Erling Haaland and many of his teammates weren’t even born yet. Now, Haaland is on a historic mission, and he seems to be succeeding in his mission to get Norway to the 2026 World Cup finals. Having won all five of their European Group I matches, Norway now faces a crucial, but not too difficult, hurdle: a home match against Israel (11 p.m., October 11). If Norway wins, they will maintain a near-total safety distance from four-time World Cup champions Italy, which would almost certainly mean a playoff for the Azzurri.

Erling Haaland (9) is responsible for bringing the Norwegian team back to the World Cup arena.

PHOTO: AFP

Despite losing the great Martin Odegaard (Arsenal Club), Norway is still quite powerful with the main players Haaland and Alexander Sorloth (Atletico Madrid Club) in the attack. In the last 9 matches, Haaland has scored 16 goals, for both the national team and Manchester City Club. On the one hand, Norway is completely in control of its destiny. On the other hand, the Nordic team will be more certain of a place in the World Cup finals if Italy stumbles on Estonia's field in this series of matches. Coach Gennaro Gattuso has only recently taken the chair, and it seems that the Azzurri in his hands have not really taken shape. In the most recent series of matches, Italy almost collapsed, when they beat Israel 5-4 with the decisive goal scored in the 90+1 minute. The gap between Italy and the top team Norway is currently 6 points (Italy has played 1 less match).

Italy's biggest problem is that even if they beat Norway in the return leg, as long as Norway doesn't lose points against Israel and Estonia (both at home), the Nordic team will almost certainly finish above them due to the huge difference in goal difference. In Europe, only the top teams are guaranteed a place in the World Cup finals.

R ONALDO IS STILL SCORING

Portugal - Ireland, Hungary - Armenia (Group F), Spain - Georgia, Bulgaria - Türkiye (Group E), Serbia - Albania, Latvia - Andorra (Group K) are the other European clashes in tonight's and early tomorrow morning's fixtures.

Both Iberian representatives, Spain and Portugal, are unbeaten after two matches, in groups of only four teams. Portugal has been in very stable form since winning the 2025 Nations League. At the age of 40, veteran Cristiano Ronaldo is still scoring regularly (3 goals in 2 matches in this qualifying round). It is worth noting that Portugal will have home advantage in 3 of the remaining 4 matches. In addition, both formidable opponents Hungary and Ireland are below "underdog" Armenia in Group F.

In Group E, Spain also has home advantage in 3/4 remaining matches. In the past 2 away matches in Turkey and Bulgaria, Spain won all, scored 9 goals and did not concede. The difficulty for Spain in this series of matches does not come from the visiting team Georgia, but from themselves: injuries have made Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams, Gavi, Rodri, Dani Carvajal, Fermin Lopez, Dean Huijsen absent. In any case, Spain is still better than the visiting team, with only Khvicha Kravatskhelia (PSG) worth noting. He will have to try to play, despite being absent due to injury in the most recent match at the club.

Finally, the Serbia-Albania clash in Group K. Host Serbia is only in 3rd place but has played 1 game less than the team above them, Albania. England is leading the group (having won all 5 games), and could benefit if Serbia and Albania share the points.

Compared to other regions in the world , Europe is the latest place to start World Cup qualifying (groups with 4 teams only started last month). Therefore, no team has received a ticket to the finals yet. But the situation of the groups will become clear after this series of matches.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/vong-loai-world-cup-2026-haaland-ganh-vac-su-menh-lich-su-185251010212207374.htm