The perfect start from Norway to the qualification of the World Cup continued on Thursday when they walked 3-0 winners about Italy in the Ullevaal Stadium.
Three goals in the first half caused the damage for the hosts, where Italy was unable to leave their mark in their first qualification for the World Cup 2026.
Norway started on the front foot, where Alexander Sorloth found the breakthrough after just 14 minutes.
The long ball of Alessandro Bastoni was cut out and Antonio Nusa drove forward through midfield before chosen a pass in Sorloth, who shot in from a tight corner from the left, where Gianluigi Donnarumma could not make the stop despite the fact that he had a touch on the ball.
Donnarumma denied Sorloth shortly after half an hour, but a few moments later Nusa found a way. After having cut in from the left, he sent two Italy defenders who bumped into each other before he bowed into a nice attack.
Erling Haaland made it 3-0 just before the break. The Manchester City striker, played by Martin Odegaard, called Donnarumma before he slid into an empty net.
Odegaard almost again became the provider again in the second half and chose Sander Berge, who struck the left pole with a powerful curls.
The only shot of Italy on the goal came in a stop time, when replacement Lorenzo Lucca rose to make an attempt on goal, but Orjan Nyland held it to his nearby post.
Norway remains at the top of group I with nine points, while Italy is fourth, although they have played two games less than their opponents.
Defeat in Oslo. #Azzurri #vivoazzurro pic.twitter.com/YG72RXBLJR
– Italy (@Azzurri_en) 6 June 2025
Data Debrief: World Cup qualifying misery will take place for Italy
Italy has missed the last two world cups and is not eligible for both the 2018 and 2022 editions, something that Luciano Spalletti is determined to state before 2026.
However, they were far beyond the pace against an unbridled Norway side in Oslo. Italy has now lost two qualifications of the World Cup in a row for the first time in their history.
It is also the first time that they have not scored in three of such consecutive competitions – they only created 0.21 expected goals (XG) of their six shots on Friday.
Norway, which collected 1.63 XG, was out of sight during the break – it is the first time that Italy has admitted at least three goals in the first half of a world cup qualification in their history.