For Italy, the match against Norway was a total failure. The objective was certainly not to win by nine goals, but at least to win to finish the group well; instead, it ended 4-1 to the opponents, who at the end of the match did whatever they wanted. Nusa and Bobb did what they wanted in the wings, Haaland woke up and scored two goals, practically with two shots on goal. The Manchester City striker explained after the match that he had found the right motivations from the behavior shown by Mancini towards him, whom he mocked ironically at the end of the Italy-Norway.
Norway knew that in Milan they would mathematically secure qualification for the 2026 World Cup. Before the match, Haaland had spoken about Italy, about San Siro and about Pio Esposito, in an almost boastful way. It was precisely the young Inter striker who scored the goal that gave Italy the lead, which they held until the 70th minute when Nusa equalized and the match changed. With Haaland's double and Strand Larsen's goal, the final score became 4-1! A Caporetto, because it had been 70 years since Italy had lost so badly at home.
The duel between Haaland and Mancini
Haaland was the man on the front page, he is the symbol of a strong team that will play for the fourth time in the World Cup. After the match, still in uniform, at San Siro, the king of the bombers appeared on Norwegian television and, talking about the match, he stopped at the behavior of Gianluca Mancini; there were no sweet words for the Roma defender, he was even bitten.
As one might imagine, Mancini used harsh, sharp methods to try to restrain Haaland, without ever crossing the line, because no card was given to the yellow-haired player, but he used some old-fashioned tricks. He also received a yellow card at one point and during a fight with Mancini was held by teammate Donnarumma. That kind of "vintage" marking angered the Norwegian, who from those provocations, in his own words, drew strength and motivation.
It was no coincidence that a few minutes later he scored twice: "Mancini started touching my backside when the score was 1-1, I thought: 'What are you doing?'. Then I got excited and said: 'Thanks for the motivation, come on'. I scored two goals and we won the match 4-1. So I thank him."
Winning 4-1 in Italy is special.
In Norway, this issue is being talked about almost more than qualification, and social media is also abuzz with comments about Haaland's words, in which he points the finger at Mancini and his ways of marking and provoking him. The world's strongest centre-forward, however, also praised the team, celebrating the success in Italy: "This is probably the most impressive game the team has played so far. Winning 4-1 here is really special. This win shows that we are unpredictable. The important teams are now really taking us into consideration."
Haaland om the duel with Mancini???? pic.twitter.com/8lGJHCKd98
— Endre Lübeck (@endrelub) November 16, 2025