Blues brothers on World Cup qualification collision course

GIANLUIGI Donnarumma and Erling Haaland might be good friends off the pitch and increasingly vital teammates on it, but next month those relationships could be put aside for what might be one of the highlights of the international calendar.

- CBy TYRONE MARSHALL

Erling Haaland was on target for Norway against Italy when the sides met in June

There aren't too many stories in World Cup qualifying but Haaland’s heroics have Norway firmly on course for a first appearance at the tournament since 1998, and it is Italy's Donnarumma who they are holding off in Group I. The seeds for qualification were laid in June, when Norway beat Italy 3-0 in Oslo, a result that led to the departure of Azurri boss Luciano Spalletti.

Manchester City striker Haaland scored that night and now has a remarkable 12 goals in six games in the group stage, with Norway boasting a perfect record of six wins out of six.

They finally look like making good on the promise of a golden generation, having somehow failed to qualify for recent major tourna ments.

In Euro 2024 qualifying, they took one point from two games against Scotland and drew in Georgia.

This time around, there have been no stumbles, and not only have they collected results, but they have also done so in style.