Foxborough (US): In his tournament debut on Tuesday, Erling Haaland scored his first two World Cup goals, one of which came from a defensive error, and provided an assist to help Norway defeat Iraq 4-1 in Group I.
The Manchester City striker scored his 56th and 57th international goals during Norway's first tournament appearance since reaching the Round of 16 at the 1998 World Cup in France, two years before Haaland was born.
Leo Ostigard added the third goal in the 76th minute from a corner kick delivered by Martin Odegaard. Kristian Thorstvedt scored the fourth goal just before the final whistle from Haaland's assist.
Iraq briefly equalised nine minutes after Haaland's opening strike through a goal from Aymen Hussein.
However, Haaland restored Norway's lead for good just before half-time when he intercepted a poor back pass to Iraq goalkeeper Jalal Hassan. Haaland reached the ball before the goalkeeper, anticipated his attempted clearance, and then used his shin to guide the ball into the net.
Haaland's first goal came in the 29th minute from a cross into the box by David Møller Wolfe. Haaland slid in and used his right heel to finish. The goal sparked waves of cheers from Norway supporters, who dominated the stands dressed in red and broke into synchronised Viking rowing chants.
Iraq, playing in the World Cup for only the second time after making their debut in 1986, held their own with a sizeable contingent of supporters, most of whom were concentrated behind one of the goals.
That energy helped Iraq briefly get back into the match.
The equaliser came in the 38th minute when Amir Al-Ammari controlled the ball on the byline midway between the left corner and the goal before delivering a cross across the face of goal.
The ball evaded Norway's defenders, allowing Hussein to direct a clean header that bounced beneath the hand of diving goalkeeper Ørjan Nyland to level the score at 1-1.
It was Hussein's 34th international goal for Iraq. That tally includes his winning goal against Bolivia in Iraq's final World Cup qualifying match in April, which secured the country's place in the 48-team tournament.
A sprinkler malfunctioned at Gillette Stadium during half-time of the World Cup match between Iraq and Norway.
A large stream of water spurted for several seconds from a sprinkler located on the edge of the penalty area in front of the goal in which Haaland had scored twice to give Norway a 2-1 half-time lead.
The remaining sprinklers appeared to function normally, but all of them had to be switched off to prevent further damage from the malfunctioning unit.