Anything Kylian Mbappe ($10.5m) can do, Erling Haaland ($10.5m) can do better. Shortly after France’s main man delivered a double-digit haul in the win over Senegal, Haaland emerged with a 17-point return from Norway’s 4-1 win over plucky Iraq.
Here are our Scout Notes from the game, featuring match stats from our World Cup Toolkit page.
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IRAQ 1-4 NORWAY

- Goals: Hussein | Haaland x2, Østigård, Hussein own-goal
- Assists: Al Ammari | Møller Wolfe, Ødegaard, Haaland
- Shot on target bonus: Haaland x2
- Tackle bonus: Ismael
- Top points scorers: Haaland (17), Østigård (10), Møller Wolfe (7), Al Ammari (7), Hussein (7)
TEAM STATS

PLAYER STATS


SCOUT NOTES
- This was vintage Haaland. Peripheral for the most part (he had fewer touches than any other starter, even from Iraq), he was nevertheless there where it mattered, in the six-yard box, to convert Norway’s first two goals. While not often a striker who plays a wider part in the game, which is sometimes a criticism of him at Manchester City, he still pops up to deliver the only contributions that Fantasy managers care about: attacking returns. He slid in to score Norway’s first from a low David Moller Wolfe ($4.0m) cross before charging down Iraq ‘keeper Jalal Hassan ($3.9m) to double the lead. Hassan denied him a hat-trick late on but he still found time to claim an assist for his country’s final goal, which Aymen Hussein ($5.3m) put into his own net.
- Norway’s next-most-owned Fantasy pick, Julian Ryerson ($4.2m), couldn’t deliver the goods. It wasn’t for the want of trying. On all manner of indirect set plays for his nation, he created a team-best three chances. All of them came from free-kicks and corners. He was noticeably more advanced from open play than Moller Wolfe, too, so to see the left-back claim an assist from his only key pass of the match was galling. As was Martin Odegaard ($7.7m) banking an assist from his only corner (and key pass) of the game.
- Antonio Nusa ($6.1m) really caught the eye with his trickery and distribution on the left flank, although it amounted to nought in terms of shots and chances created. Alexander Sorloth ($6.8m) was a lumbering presence on the opposite wing, despite mustering a couple of half-decent chances. One was a header that, had it not been blocked, would have given Ryerson an assist.
- This was a convincing-looking win for Norway on paper but that was far from the truth. Two late goals put a gloss on the scoreline but Iraq threatened, especially in the first half. Probably the big takeaway from this game, other than Haaland’s haul, was how suspect both sides looked defensively. That’s encouraging for the attackers of France and Senegal, who face these two nations next.
- Iraq’s front two of Hussein and Ali Al Hamadi ($4.7m) caused Norway’s backline plenty of problems, each having three shots. Hussein was a menace in the air and brilliantly nodded in Iraq’s leveller, while Al Hamadi wasted a huge one-on-one chance to make it 2-2. Midfielder Ibrahim Bayesh ($5.6m) had a goalbound shot brilliantly blocked, while defenders Akam Hashim ($3.5m) and Hussein Ali ($3.6m) both had efforts that narrowly went over. The game finished 11-12 on shots, indeed.


