OSLO: Norway’s Erling Haaland scored five goals and substitute Thelo Aasgaard added four more as they hammered hapless Moldova 11-1 to take another huge step toward qualifying for the World Cup finals for the first time since 1998.
With five games played, the Norwegians top Group I on 15 points, six ahead of second-placed Italy, who have a game in hand. Moldova’s worst defeat leaves them bottom of the group with no points.
The group winners qualify automatically for next year’s World Cup while the runners-up go into a playoff.
Haaland’s beautiful cushioned pass teed up Felix Horn Myhre to break the deadlock with a sixth-minute tap-in, and Martin Odegaard should have made it two a minute later, but he blazed the ball over from close range.
The Norwegians didn’t have to wait long for another goal as Haaland rattled home in the 11th minute, snapping up a loose ball in the box and sweeping it into the far corner.
Haaland slotted home his second to round off a Norwegian counter-attack in the 36th minute and completed his hat-trick before the break.
Moldova keeper Cristian Avram forced him to go wide, but Haaland simply recovered the ball and chipped it brilliantly in at the far post to make it 4-0.
Odegaard netted a fifth in first-half stoppage time and seven minutes into the second half Haaland struck again, scoring his fourth with a header as Norway ran riot in front of their home fans.
Substitute Aasgaard struck twice either side of an own goal by Leo Ostigard, and he got his hat-trick from the penalty spot in the 79th minute before Haaland added the 10th, his ninth goal in five World Cup qualifiers.
Aasgaard completed the rout with a flicked finish in second-half stoppage time.
Haaland hits five as Norway thrash Moldova 11-1 in World Cup qualifier
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Haaland hits five as Norway thrash Moldova 11-1 in World Cup qualifier
- With five games played, the Norwegians top Group I on 15 points, six ahead of second-placed Italy, who have a game in hand
Alonso fears more pain in China with struggling Aston Martin
- Fernando Alonso said Thursday he expects another difficult weekend wrestling with his new Aston Martin at the Chinese Grand Prix after failing to finish the season-opener in Australia
SHANGHAI: Fernando Alonso said Thursday he expects another difficult weekend wrestling with his new Aston Martin at the Chinese Grand Prix after failing to finish the season-opener in Australia.
Silverstone-based Aston Martin endured a horror start after serious issues with their Honda power unit and a lack of spare parts.
Two-time world champion Alonso and teammate Lance Stroll had to endure extreme vibration in the chassis caused by the power unit, which was feared could cause the drivers permanent nerve damage.
“The situation unfortunately didn’t change within four or five days since Melbourne, so it will be a difficult weekend,” Alonso told reporters at the Shanghai International Circuit.
“We’ll limit the laps in one or two sessions as we are short on parts. We need laps, to find the window on the chassis side.
“I’ll be happy if we leave China with a more or less normal practice, more or less normal qualifying.”
The Spaniard could not put a timeframe on when improvements might come.
“What can I do within the team? Work harder, help Honda as much as I can,” said Alonso.
“We can allocate resources to help Honda with the power unit. We are one team, it is a bumpy start that I hope won’t last too long.
“We are pushing, we have very talented people in the team, so I hope within a couple of grands prix, we can have a normal weekend.
“To be competitive will take more time. Once we fix the reliability, we will be behind on power and things.”
The 44-year-old veteran has been in Formula One for more than two decades and has driven vastly different iterations of cars from the old V10 petrol engines through to the current complex hybrid configuration.
Despite the issues he said was embracing the challenge of the new cars enthusiastically in what could be his final season on the grid.
His Aston Martin contract expires at the end of 2026.
“Do we enjoy driving these cars? Yes, because we love racing,” Alonso said.
“I do four or five 24-hour races because I love racing and I love driving. So if you jump into an F1 car, you enjoy going fast.
“But it is a challenge, a different challenge.
“I was super lucky to race in (the last) era and I feel lucky to race in both.”
