Haaland double fires Norway to 3-1 win over Cyprus

Norway’s Erling Haaland scored twice in the second half as they cruised to a 3-1 win over Cyprus on Tuesday to get their Euro 2024 Group A campaign back on track after a shock 2-1 home defeat to Scotland in their previous game.

The win lifts the Norwegians to third in the five-team group on four points from four matches, behind second-placed Georgia on goal difference while Scotland, who are hosting Georgia on Tuesday, top the group with nine points from three games.

Norway broke the deadlock in the 12th minute as Alexander Sorloth’s cross from the right flew just over Haaland’s but dropped perfectly for Ola Solbakken to blast home his first international goal.

Haaland converted a penalty in the 56th minute and followed that up with another powerful finish on the hour to take his season tally to 56 goals, the most of any player in the top five European leagues and two more than France’s Kylian Mbappe.

Grigoris Kastanos scored a stoppage-time consolation for the visitors to reduce the deficit but it could not spoil the party as the Norwegians chalked up their first win in the group.