Erling Haaland scored five times as Norway thrashed Moldova 11-1 in a World Cup qualifier in Oslo on Tuesday night.
The Manchester City striker took his tally to 48 goals in 45 international appearances and matched the five-goal hauls he has produced for his club against Luton Town and RB Leipzig over the past three seasons.
Norway are without a major tournament appearance since Euro 2000 but are hopeful of ending that barren sequence. They have won all of their five World Cup qualifiers in their present group, notably beating Italy 3-0, and are on a run of eight successive victories in all matches, with Haaland netting in each one.
Haaland was in a zen-like state celebrating scoring one of his five goals against hapless Moldova
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The Rangers midfielder Thelo Aasgaard emulated compatriot Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s feat for Manchester United against Nottingham Forest in 1999 by scoring four goals as a substitute against Moldova, while Arsenal’s Martin Odegaard was also on target.
It was a record defeat for Moldova, who have as many as five European nations below them in the Fifa rankings: Malta, Andorra, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein and San Marino. They lost 5-0 at home to Norway in the qualifying group six months ago.
This was Norway’s biggest score since they defeated the United States 11-0 in a friendly in 1948. In their very first international match they lost 11-3 to Sweden in Gothenburg.
Haaland suffered a cut to his face this week when the baggage door of the team bus was opened
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Norway also recorded the highest score by a European team in a World Cup qualifier since Macedonia won 11-1 away to Liechtenstein in November 1996. The largest such victory occurred in May 1969 when Germany beat Cyprus 12-0; the Germans eclipsed that score in a Euro 2008 qualifier when they won 13-0 away to San Marino.
The highest score in a men’s international match was achieved in April 2001 when Australia beat American Samoa 31-0 in a World Cup qualifier just two days after they had set the previous record, seeing off Tonga by a mere 22-0. Five years later they left Oceania for the Asian confederation in search of more challenging opponents.
England have recorded a double-figure goal tally six times, most recently beating San Marino 10-0 away in a World Cup qualifier in November 2021. Their biggest win is by 13-0 away to Ireland in February 1882.
Haaland could have scored six but let Aasgaard take the the stoppage-time penalty to make it 11-1
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Scotland’s biggest win is 11-0 against Ireland in 1901; Wales’s best, set in 1888, is also 11-0 against Ireland; Northern Ireland’s largest victory is 7-0 against Wales in 1930; and Ireland’s biggest win is 8-0 versus Malta in 1983.