Norway 3
Senegal 2
ERLING HAALAND SCORED his second consecutive World Cup brace to help Norway beat Senegal 3-2 on Monday to punch their ticket to the last 32.
Norway substitute Marcus Holmgren Pedersen struck late in the first half in New Jersey before Haaland doubled the lead shortly after the break.
Ismaila Sarr cut the deficit for Senegal, only for Haaland to punish more slack defending as Norway moved through to the knockout rounds with a game to spare despite a late consolation from Sarr.
Manchester City forward Haaland now has four goals in two games at the tournament, hot on the heels of Lionel Messi’s double earlier in the day which carried him to a record 18 World Cup goals. Not to be outdone, Kylian Mbappé scored another brace too as France beat Iraq 3-0.
Norway have lost only once in their last 18 matches and will take on France in a compelling battle for top spot in the group in Boston on Friday.
Senegal must beat Iraq, who are also without a point, in their final game to stand a chance of avoiding an early exit.
Led by the unstoppable Haaland, who increased his astonishing international goals tally to 59 in 52 games, Norway recorded back-to-back wins at the World Cup for the first time.
They added weight to the belief they can do serious damage at these finals with a dominant display against a Senegal side that paid heavily for their errors.
Algeria 2
Jordan 1
Elsewhere, Algeria came from behind to beat Jordan 2-1 in Group J, eliminating the Asian debutants from the tournament.
Amine Gouiri and Nadhir Benbouali scored Algeria’s goals after Nizar al-Rashdan gave Jordan the lead.
The win gives Algeria hope of progressing to the knockout round if they can beat Austria in Kansas City on Saturday.
Austria lost 2-0 to Argentina earlier on Monday, leaving the South Americans top of Group J on six points.
The Austrians and Algeria have three points each.
Jordan face Argentina in Arlington, Texas on Saturday in their farewell to the tournament.
Written by AFP and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won’t find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women’s sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here.