Two-goal Haaland fires Norway into World Cup last 32

East Rutherford, United States: Erling Haaland scored his second World Cup brace in a row as 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. xsportfeed.life

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 Mbappe 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.

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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.

Norway quickly set the tone as Kristoffer Ajer's header forced Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy into a terrific save with his legs at a corner, but they lost full-back Julian Ryerson to injury early on.

Captain Martin Odegaard skied over an inviting cut-back from the right for Norway, as Nicolas Jackson looked Senegal's most dangerous threat.

Mendy again came to Senegal's rescue with a superb block to deny Odegaard after Haaland cushioned down Antonio Nusa's chipped cross into the box.

But Mendy allowed Pedersen's low drive to creep under him after a dreadful mistake from skipper Kalidou Koulibaly gave the ball to the replacement right-back on the edge of the box.

Haaland rolled against the post from a tight angle after Mendy got in a tangle, but he made amends three minutes into the second half as Norway sliced Senegal apart on the counter-attack.

Odegaard surged upfield and slid a pass through to Haaland, who buried an emphatic finish past Mendy to add to the two goals he scored in Norway's opening 4-1 victory over Iraq.

Senegal clawed their way back as Sarr showed great composure to poke home after tumbling to the ground following a clever flick into the area by Sadio Mane.

However, Koulibaly was at fault once more, failing to clear as Haaland steered a volley in off the crossbar from Patrick Berg's cross, delighting Norwegian fans who provided a colourful backdrop with their viral rowing chant.

Mory Diaw came on for the injured Mendy in goal, but only a headed goalline clearance from Pathe Ciss prevented Oscar Bobb from netting Norway's fourth.

Sarr's second of the night set up a tense finish, but Norway held on to join France in the next round and leave Senegal's hopes hanging by a thread.

أكد محمد جابر الملا، أمين السر العام بالاتحاد القطري لكرة اليد، أن دولة قطر فقدت برحيل المغفور له بإذن الله صاحب السمو الأمير الوالد الشيخ حمد بن خليفة آل ثاني، قائداً استثنائياً ورمزاً وطنياً ترك إرثاً خالداً من الإنجازات التي أسست لنهضة شاملة وضعت قطر في مصاف الدول المتقدمة على مختلف الأصعدة.
وقال الملا: “سيبقى الأمير الوالد، رحمه الله، حاضراً في ذاكرة الوطن والأجيال بما قدمه من رؤية ثاقبة أسهمت في بناء الدولة الحديثة، وأحدثت نقلة نوعية في مجالات الاقتصاد والتعليم والصحة والثقافة والإعلام والبنية التحتية، إلى جانب المكانة السياسية والدبلوماسية التي أصبحت تتمتع بها دولة قطر على الساحة الدولية”.
وأضاف: “لم تكن الرياضة بعيدة عن هذه النهضة المباركة، فقد حظيت باهتمام ودعم غير مسبوق، وأصبحت قطر بفضل توجيهات سموه مركزاً عالمياً لاستضافة أكبر البطولات والأحداث الرياضية، وهو ما أسهم في بناء منظومة رياضية متكاملة، وتطوير الاتحادات والأندية، وإعداد أجيال من الرياضيين الذين رفعوا اسم قطر في مختلف المحافل القارية والعالمية”.
وتابع: “إن الإنجازات التي تحققت في عهد الأمير الوالد لم تكن وليدة اللحظة، بل جاءت ثمرة رؤية استراتيجية بعيدة المدى، أرست دعائم التنمية المستدامة، ورسخت مكانة قطر كدولة رائدة في الابتكار والمعرفة والتميز،

Atlanta: England manager Thomas Tuchel named Declan Rice in his team for Wednesday's World Cup semi-final against Argentina after the midfielder recovered from illness, and made three changes to his starting line-up.

Reece James plays at right-back, starting for the first time since the second group game against Ghana, while Djed Spence is preferred at left-back, where he will come up against Argentina captain Lionel Messi.

Morgan Rogers of Aston Villa is named on the right wing, with Noni Madueke and Bukayo Saka both on the bench.

Madueke, Ezri Konsa and Nico O'Reilly are the three players to drop out of the line-up following England's 2-1 victory against Norway in the quarter-finals.

Argentina made just one change following their 3-1 win against Switzerland.

Rodrigo De Paul drops out, with Atletico Madrid's Giuliano Simeone replacing him. That means a likely 4-4-2 formation, with Simeone on the right and Alexis Mac Allister of Liverpool on the left side.

It is the sixth meeting of the nations at a World Cup, but the first since a 1-0 England win in Japan in the group stage in 2002.

The winners will advance to Sunday's final at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, where they will play Spain, who beat France 2-0 on Tuesday.

The losers will go to Miami for the third-place play-off against France on Saturday.