Erling Haaland scored his third and fourth goals of the tournament on June 22 to lead Norway to its second victory in Group I and a spot in the knockout phase.
Norway substitute Marcus Holmgren Pedersen, who came on early for the injured Julian Ryerson, put his team on the scoreboard late in the first half after Senegal defender Kalidou Koulibaly made a bad clear in the penalty box and passed it right to him. Pedersen took just one touch and then rifled a low shot into the right corner past Edouard Mendy.
Five minutes later, Haaland capitalized on a Senegal turnover in the midfield area, sprinting forward and just managing to tap in a pass teammate Martin Odegaard slotted through a narrow gap between two defenders.
Senegal responded early in the second half following a sequence that began with a long diagonal cross out of its own end and some precise passing around Norway’s goal. Sadio Mane made a clever back heel pass into the path of forward Ismaila Sarr, who slid the ball into the net past Norway goalkeeper Orjan Nyland.
Haaland then scored his second goal five minutes after that, redirecting a short cross from Patrick Berg over the head of Mendy.
Haaland, who plays his club soccer at Manchester City in the top-flight English Premier League (EPL), also netted two goals in Norway’s 4-1 win over Iraq on June 16. He now has 59 goals in 52 appearances for his national team. He was the leading scorer in the EPL this past season with 27 goals, and previously held that honor for the 2023-2024 season, also with 27 goals.
Senegal put immense pressure on Norway late in the second half and into stoppage time. Sarr scored again off a short pass from Nicholas Jackson in a tightly packed Norway penalty box.
The Lions of Teranga then had a man advantage for two minutes after Pedersen left the field with an injury, and his team was out of substitutions, but Norway absorbed the pressure and held them off.
All told, Senegal, which was favored to win the match, maintained 56 percent of the ball possession and finished with 15 attempts on goal compared to Norway’s 13. Senegal completed 438 passes, compared to 281 for Norway.
Norway coach Stale Solbakken said his squad has won 12 games in a row now, counting World Cup qualifiers and international friendlies in preparation for this event. He believes this momentum can carry the team past the round of 32.
“We have to play as well as we did today,” he said through a FIFA interpreter during the postgame news conference.
Norway finishes group play against France, which also has two wins in the group and beat Iraq 3-0 on Monday. Senegal plays Iraq.
Norway last qualified for the World Cup in 1998, while Senegal qualified in 2002, 2018, and 2022.
