Haaland quiet as Norway and Iraq draw goalless

Foxborough waited deep into the evening for goals that never came. The stands were packed with Scandinavian and Iraqi supporters, every camera trained on one man, and that man spent ninety minutes chasing a ball that slipped half a step beyond his reach every time. On his World Cup debut, Erling Haaland looked like a striker someone had forgotten to feed the right pass.

Norway and Iraq parted without a goal. Nil-nil, a point each, and a faintly bitter taste for the favourite that arrived in the United States with the reputation of a goal machine. Haaland was relentless through European qualifying, hitting the net 16 times to top the scoring charts, but the World Cup set its own rules on the night.

Iraq came to Foxborough to defend, and they did it with discipline. A short bench, a low line, two midfielders hunting every Haaland touch before it could reach the box. Norway had the ball, had the territory, but kept bouncing off the Iraqi defence as if it were a wall. The leading scorer of Europe’s qualifying campaign was left without a single goal, and that is a story in itself.

Why did Haaland fail to score?

The answer lies not in Haaland but in how you play against him. Iraq looked him in the eye all match and never gave him the space behind the back line, which is exactly where the Norwegian does most of his damage. With no depth and no quick vertical passing, Haaland had to drop for the ball and hold it with his back to goal, and that is not his strongest suit.

There was luck in it too. A first-half header drifted a whisker past the post, and after the break the Iraqi defence blocked two close-range efforts. The statistics will say Norway dominated possession and had more shots, but a point at the start of a major tournament is not remembered for possession. It is remembered for who took three points, and nobody did.

For Norway this was a first World Cup appearance in 28 years, with a generation waiting for Haaland and company to carry the country back to the biggest stage. For Iraq, returning after a four-decade gap is just as heavy a task, and a point against one of the group favourites feels like a small triumph for their bench.

What does this point mean for Group I?

A flat start is no disaster, but it is a warning. Norway entered the group as a side expected to advance, and now their next two matches suddenly carry more weight. The point dropped at Foxborough will have to be made up against teams that will not sit as deep as Iraq, or it all comes down to the final round.

Haaland knows what pressure looks like. He was quiet this time, on the pitch and after the match, and that silence reads like a promise that the next game will not go the same way. Norway have enough quality to put things right, the only question is whether they can unlock defences that will now follow the same script, sitting back and waiting.

I still think Norway go through this group, but Iraq sent a clear message on the opening night. Big names do not win matches on their own. At your next match, will you be watching what Haaland does, or what the players marking him do?