Erling Haaland once played against India. Now he's Norway's FIFA World Cup hero after knocking out Brazil

Erling Haaland has spent the past few seasons establishing himself as one of the world's most feared strikers through his performances in the Premier League and Bundesliga. Yet his reputation has reached another level after his dramatic late brace eliminated five-time champions Brazil from the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 16. The towering 6ft 5in striker inspired Norway to a historic victory, sending the Scandinavian nation into the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time.

Norway are playing in only their fourth FIFA World Cup and their first since 1998, having failed to qualify for the previous six tournaments. Haaland, who turns 26 on July 21, was not even born when Norway last appeared on football's biggest stage. Today, he has become the country's biggest football icon. What many fans may not know is that Erling Haaland once played against India.

India's rare meeting with Erling Haaland

A decade ago, Indian football was filled with optimism ahead of hosting the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup, the first FIFA tournament ever staged in the country. As part of the preparations, India's U-17 team played several international friendlies against some of the world's top youth sides, including Norway U-17 and Brazil U-17. Those teams featured two future global superstars, Erling Haaland and Vinicius Junior, who would later meet again on football's biggest stage.

The official match report from June 29, 2016, remains available on the All India Football Federation (AIFF) website. "After the Indian Colts were reduced to 10 men in the 54th minute when Sanjeev earned a second yellow card for a rash tackle, Norway took the lead in the 57th minute through Erling Braut Haaland and doubled their lead in the 80th minute when Erik Botheim's strike found the net," it said. The report further added, “After a goalless first half, Sanjeev was red-carded in the 54th minute and India were reduced to 10 men. The Indian Colts failed to erase their deficit after conceding goals in the 57th and 80th minutes as the full-time scoreline read 2-0 in Norway's favour.”

The viral tackle

Haaland was already considered one of Norway's brightest young prospects during that tournament. Among the Indian players who faced him was midfielder Suresh Wangjam. Years later, in 2022, an image of Suresh successfully tackling Haaland resurfaced on social media and quickly went viral. Reacting to the photo, Suresh joked, "By the way, I won that ball. Just saying."

Reflecting on that encounter, Suresh later explained how India specifically planned to stop Haaland. "We knew it was not going to be an easy game. We had a plan to face them. We knew their style of play and that they had one key player [Haaland]. It was a bit easier for us to know who was going to mark the key player so that we could put him under pressure and stop them from playing the ball forward," Suresh later told The Bridge.

Also Read: Stale Solbakken reveals Carlo Ancelotti's classy gesture after Norway's historic win over Brazil

USA vs Belgium Photograph: (WION)

Two very different journeys

Several members of India's 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup squad went on to represent the senior national team and clubs in the Indian Super League. Haaland's journey, however, took him to the very top of world football. From an exciting youth prospect, he has evolved into one of the defining players of his generation, consistently breaking scoring records at club level before now leading Norway to one of the biggest victories in the nation's football history.

As Norway prepare for a FIFA World Cup 2026 quarter-final, Indian football continues to search for similar progress. Among FIFA's 211 member associations, India currently sit 138th in the world rankings, highlighting the widening gap between the two footballing nations.