Norway power past Estonia to stand on brink of World Cup qualification

They have all but secured a place at next year's tournament in North America as they hold a six-point lead over second-placed Italy

World Cup - UEFA Qualifiers - Group I - Norway v Estonia - Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway - Nov 13, 2025 Norway's Erling Haaland and Julian Ryerson Jonas Been Henriksen/NTB via REUTERS A

Alexander Sorloth and Erling Haaland both scored twice as Norway claimed a 4-1 home win over Estonia on Thursday which put them on the brink of qualifying for the World Cup for the first time since 1998.

Norway have all but secured a place at next year's tournament in North America as they hold a six-point lead over second-placed Italy, who play Moldova later on Thursday, in Group I.

Italy need to beat both Moldova and Norway in their remaining two qualifiers and overturn a 19-goal deficit to leapfrog the Norwegians and snatch the automatic qualifying spot from Group I.

Norway endured a tense first half as a disciplined Estonia shut down every channel, forcing the hosts into slow, predictable play and even drawing boos at the interval.

Sorloth broke the deadlock shortly after the restart as he scored twice in two minutes before Haaland added two more as Estonia collapsed.

Robi Saarma pulled one back for the visitors in the 64th minute but by then Norway had taken a tight grip of the match.