The Borussia Dortmund star will not play at next year’s tournament after defeat against the Oranje condemned his nation to third in Group G
Erling Haaland saw his dream of tournament football dashed for the second successive time after Norway came up short in a 2-0 defeat against the Netherlands in their final game of UEFA qualification for the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
The Borussia Dortmund striker had hoped to fire his nation to a spot at next year’s showpiece event, having helped Stale Solbakken’s side into a three-way race with the Oranje and Turkey.
However late goals for Steven Bergwijn and Memphis Depay ended Norway’s hopes following a match where they were second-best throughout, with Louis van Gaal’s side taking their place as group winners.
What happened?
Following a year which saw the nation almost come to make a historic boycott of next year’s tournament, narrowly avoided by powerbrokers in June, attention turned to the question of whether Haaland, captain Martin Odegaard and company could actually book a spot at all.
Having last qualified for a World Cup more than two decades ago – when they featured at France 1998 – the wait to end a frustrating exodus from the biggest showpiece in the game had never looked brighter with their raft of young talents in the mix.
Yet against a well-drilled Dutch side themselves looking to avoid another World Cup absence, they were limited in both possession and opportunity, though kept in the mix by virtue of a goalless encounter until the final few minutes.
Bergwijn’s 84th-minute finish effectively broke their resolve and a second in injury time for Depay means that Haaland misses out once more on tournament football, with Norway having been absent from this year’s rearranged Euro 2020 too.
Source: Goal