Iraq falls to Norway with a 4-0 defeat in the opening of its World Cup campaign

The Iraqi national team suffered a harsh loss at the start of its journey in the 2026 World Cup finals, after falling to the Norwegian team with a score of 4-1, in the match held at Boston Stadium as part of Group Nine competitions.

Erling Haaland opened the scoring for Norway in the 29th minute, after following a low cross at the far post and converting it into the net, before Ayman Hussein succeeded in bringing Iraq back into the match with a precise header in the 39th minute.

But the Norwegian team quickly regained the lead before the end of the first half, when Haaland exploited a grave mistake by goalkeeper Jalal Hassan, causing the ball to enter the goal in a way that confused the Iraqi team and gave Norway an important psychological advantage.

Despite the deficit, Iraq missed more than one dangerous opportunity to equalize before the break, as Ibrahim Bayesh, Al-Hammadi, and Akam Hashim came close to bringing the match back to square one, but the Norwegian defense and luck stood in the way of the Iraqi attempts.

In the second half, the Iraqi team tried to press to return, but Norway calmly dealt with the Iraqi rush, before substitute Leo Østigård added the third goal in the 76th minute with a header benefiting from a cross pass by Martin Ødegaard.

In injury time, the fourth goal for Norway came from an own goal, after Ayman Hussein tried to clear a header from Haaland but mistakenly directed the ball into his own team's net.

With this win, Norway earned the first three points in the group, leading on goal difference over France, which defeated Senegal 3-1, while Iraq started its journey from the last place without points.

This loss puts the Iraqi team under early pressure before the next two rounds, as it will need a strong reaction to maintain its hopes of competing for a qualification spot to the next round.