Erling Haaland‘s (£15.6m) international involvement came to a slightly premature end on Sunday evening.
The Manchester City striker lasted just 66 minutes of Norway’s 2-1 defeat to Portugal in Porto.
Just to add to the alarm, it very much looked like he was requesting to be replaced:
Erling Haaland asked to come off due to an 𝐢𝐧𝐣𝐮𝐫𝐲 while playing for Norway 😬 https://t.co/2AxiCbLSiX
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) October 4, 2026
Cameras also seemed to capture him limping before his substitution:
HAALAND LIMPING ‼️
HE COULD BE INJURED 💔 https://t.co/RIi1F3D7Yu
— 🇳🇴 Haaland Ballon d’or (@Anikerl9) October 4, 2026
However, Norway boss Stale Solbakken has assuaged fears of an injury.
Haaland was starting his fourth match in the space of 11 days; he had lasted 90 minutes in the previous three.
And Solbakken suggested after the game that the substitution was pre-planned, of sorts, in that Haaland would keep going until he felt he could contribute no more.
“Well, it wasn’t just with him; I spoke with about five or six players who have played a lot of minutes. It’s important that they feel I’m listening to them, and we agreed that he would keep going until he felt he couldn’t contribute anymore. We were talking about the 60-minute mark or thereabouts. Jørgen [Strand Larsen, who replaced Haaland] knew this, so he was warming up – or rather, warming up extremely aggressively, so to speak – to avoid that stiff, cold feeling you get if you’re suddenly thrown into the game.
“I think [Haaland] ended up playing 65 minutes or something like that. But of course, I thought he played a very, very good match in the build-up phase. He terrorised their centre-backs, which allowed us to sustain longer spells of possession in the first half because both centre-backs were occupied.” – Stale Solbakken on Erling Haaland
Haaland hadn’t received any treatment after he took his place on the bench, post-substitution. There was also no sign of any limp when he was exiting the stadium.
City head coach Enzo Maresca should hopefully provide us with an update, if any is really needed, when he faces the media later this week.
It’s Liverpool next up for the Premier League leaders, although that match has been overshadowed after the Citizens were found guilty of charges relating to breaches of the league’s financial regulations.
