There will be a notable absentee from the upcoming European Championship: Erling Haaland.
Despite the Manchester City striker breaking goalscoring records and winning the Premier League Golden Boot twice since his arrival in England, he will not be able to add to his impressive numbers on the big stage at Euro 2024.
Haaland has still never managed to play in a major international tournament, with the star now having to pin his hopes on the next World Cup.
It would be a shame if one of the world’s best strikers never ends up participating in a major international competition during his career, but it’s already looking like a possibility if Norway’s fortunes do not improve drastically in the coming years.
Which national team does Erling Haaland play for?
Erling Haaland plays for the Norway national football team. Born on July 21, 2000 in Leeds, England, his father, Alf-Inge Haaland, was a renowned Premier League footballer at the time. The Haaland family remained in England for another three years before relocating back to Bryne in Norway, where Erling was then raised.
Erling chose to represent Norway, the country of his upbringing, although theoretically he would have been entitled to British citizenship and thus potentially eligible to play for the England national team since he was born in England and spent his early years there.
As of June 2024, Norway is ranked 43rd in the FIFA World Rankings. The national team has a modest history in major international competitions. Norway has qualified for the FIFA World Cup on three occasions: in 1938, 1994, and 1998. Their best achievement in the World Cup was reaching the Round of 16 in 1998, where they were narrowly defeated by Italy.
In addition, Norway qualified for the UEFA European Championship in 2000. However, they did not progress beyond the group stage in that tournament.
Is Erling Haaland playing at the Euro 2024?
As alluded to above, Haaland will have to watch the tournament from home with the Manchester City superstar playing no part.
The Nordic goal machine, who will likely be on vacation for most of the Euros, aimed to lead Norway to a spot at the 2024 European Championship in what would have been their first appearance at a major international tournament since 2000. Unfortunately, they failed to qualify.
Their hopes of progressing to the group stage were dashed in October last year after a defeat to Spain and a draw against Scotland before results elsewhere meant they couldn’t even reach the play-offs.
The Norwegians had lost some key games in the early stages of Euro 2024 qualifying which ultimately cost them.
Erling Haaland record, caps, goals with Norway
Haaland has quickly cemented himself as one of football’s best current goalscorers and his exploits have been evident in the international circuit as well.
He scored his first goal for Norway on September 4, 2020 against Austria and hasn’t looked back since, with three international hat tricks to his name.
He has taken just 32 games to reach 30 international goals for Norway and it feels like just a matter of time until he dethrones Jorgen Juve as Norway’s all-time top goal scorer, with the current record holder scoring 33 times in 45 appearances, which has stood since before World War II.
Erling Haaland, Norway match schedule
After beating Kosovo 3-0 in the first of their two June friendlies, Norway most recently faced fellow Scandinavian side Denmark in early June. This was their last match before the UEFA Nations League which starts in September.
