{"id":161735,"date":"2026-06-15T21:44:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T21:44:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/161735\/"},"modified":"2026-06-15T21:44:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T21:44:23","slug":"erling-haaland-norway-prepare-for-iraq-first-world-cup-match-at-gillette-stadium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/161735\/","title":{"rendered":"Erling Haaland, Norway prepare for Iraq, first World Cup match at Gillette Stadium"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been over two decades since either Iraq or Norway has played in a World Cup<\/a>. <\/p>\n

On Tuesday, that drought will end for both sides as they face off at Gillette Stadium at 6 p.m. for the second group stage match in Massachusetts. <\/p>\n

It will be the first of two Group I matches that will be played in Foxborough. The other will be Norway against France on Friday, June 26 at 3 p.m.<\/p>\n

In Norway, fans will get to see two of the best players in the world, Erling Haaland and Martin \u00d8degaard. The two Premier League stars are surrounded by plenty of other attacking talent, like wingers Oscar Bobb, Antonio Nusa, Andreas Schjelderup and Alexander S\u00f8rloth.<\/p>\n

In qualifiers, Haaland, perhaps the best scorer in the world, tallied 16 goals. He\u2019s coming off a 41-goal, 10-assist season with Manchester City. <\/p>\n

Over the last four seasons Haaland has 162 goals in club play.<\/p>\n

Defensively Norway\u2019s talent isn\u2019t quite as high but it can still hold its own with its size. In central defense, Kristoffer Ajer, Henrik Falchener and Torbj\u00f8rn Heggem all stand at least 6-foot-four.<\/p>\n

In net, Norway will likely start the 35-year-old \u00d8rjan H\u00e5skjold Nyland. Though he only played seven matches for Sevilla this season, he\u2019s been a consistent force for his national team.<\/p>\n

In eight World Cup qualifying matches, Nyland allowed just five goals and tallied four clean sheets. He\u2019s also the oldest player on the roster by five years and has been with the senior side since 2013.<\/p>\n

The last time Norway was in the World Cup, it made it to the Round of 16, tied for its best finish ever in the tournament.<\/p>\n

Looking to stop them this time around is Iraq, who had to beat Bolivia in a playoff to make the tournament.<\/p>\n

While the Iraqis may not have the kind of European talent that Norway does, they have proven their mettle well on the international stage. <\/p>\n

Since Graham Arnold took over as manager last spring, Iraq is 11-3-4. In its second-to-last friendly, Iraq drew with Spain, the No. 2 team in the world, 1-1.<\/p>\n

In that match it was left back Merchas Doski who delivered the tying goal for Iraq.<\/p>\n

The majority of Iraq\u2019s side plays for Middle Eastern clubs in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, or the UAE.<\/p>\n

The team\u2019s top young talent however have made their way to Europe or MLS. <\/p>\n

22-year-old Ahmed Qasem has found his way on the wings for Nashville SC, appearing in 53 matches over the last year and a half.<\/p>\n

After some success at Str\u00f8msgodset in Norway, 22-year-old striker Marko Lawk Farji now plays for Venezia in Serie B. While he\u2019s appeared in eight matches for Iraq this year, he\u2019s still looking for his first international goal.<\/p>\n

Ali Al Hamadi, 24, has made a name for himself at the lower levels of English football, scoring 35 goals over the past four seasons at AFC Wimbledon, Ipswich Town, Luton Town and Stoke City.<\/p>\n

23-year-olds Zidane Iqbal and Aimar Sher will have the task of battling \u00d8degaard in the midfield. Iqbal has been one of the best young players out of Iraq in recent years, signing with Manchester United as a teenager before moving to FC Utrecht in the Netherlands.<\/p>\n

For his nation, Iqbal scored two goals in 12 World Cup qualifying matches.<\/p>\n

Sher, who began his international career playing for Sweden, made his Iraqi debut this year. At the club level, he\u2019s turned into a steady holding midfielder for Sarpsborg 08 in Norway. Over the last three seasons, he\u2019s appeared in 62 matches for the club, tallying one goal and one assist.<\/p>\n

Like Norway, Iraq\u2019s oldest player is its likely starting goalkeeper, Jalal Hassan. First called up in 2011, the 35 year old has 78 appearances for his country in his career.<\/p>\n

After Tuesday\u2019s match, Iraq will play France on June 22 in Philadelphia at 5 p.m., and Senegal on June 26 in Toronto at 3 p.m.<\/p>\n

For Norway, the next group stage match will be at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on June 22 at 8 p.m. against Senegal, followed by the June 26 match against France in Foxborough.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s been over two decades since either Iraq or Norway has played in a World Cup. On Tuesday,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":161736,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[14],"tags":[10882,50838,94,50837,19549,2577],"class_list":["post-161735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-iraq","tag-haiti","tag-hannes-delcroix","tag-iraq","tag-masslive","tag-scotland","tag-world-cup"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116756313761280387","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161735\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/161736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}