CAN HAALAND BE NORWAY'S SAVIOUR?

After 25 years in purgatory and 12 major tournaments missed, Norway appear to have found a mythical Norse football god who may herald the end of their Ragnarok and the start of a new paradigm unspoilt by past battles against sporting irrelevance.

- Dilenjit Singh

With the physique of a Viking conqueror, a left foot like Thor's hammer and a scoring rate which should have record international goalscorer Cristiano Ronaldo secretly fretting, Erling Haaland looks primed to drag his nation to the 2026 World Cup Finals.

Five wins from as many matches in qualifying, with 24 goals scored in the process and Haaland leading the overall scoring charts on nine goals, have set the scene for Norway to return to the world stage for the first time since 1998.

A win over Israel in Oslo on Oct 11, coupled with a slip-up by chief group rivals Italy - whom they outclassed 3-0 in June could see Landslaget book their berth with two games to spare.

"It's 25 years since we've been in a major tournament... We are sick and tired of talking about that now, so we need to get to another tournament," national coach Stale Solbakken, who was in the Norway team who last played at the World Cup and European Championship in 1998 and 2000 respectively, told Fifa's website in September.

The only other European team with a similar record after five qualifiers are England, and they have done it in a far more prosaic fashion than the Norwegians.

NORSE MYTHOLOGY

Norway, who are 31st in the Fifa rankings, have nothing like the Three Lions' pedigree, but curiously are the only team who have never lost to both record five-time world champions Brazil and current holders and three-time World Cup winners Argentina.

Their combined record against the storied South American giants reads: played six, won four, drawn two.

In the heady 1990s, Norway twice reached No. 2 in the Fifa rankings, but unlike their Nordic neighbours Denmark and Sweden, they have neither real history of producing top-class talent, nor pedigree at major tournaments.

In fact, Norway have qualified for just four major tournaments and have never progressed beyond the last 16 of a World Cup or Euro.