Haaland Matches 7-Goal World Cup Mark in 4 Games as Norway Reaches Quarter-Finals

Q: With Messi leading the Golden Boot race, can Haaland's record-breaking debut be enough to overtake the Argentine legend?

Yes. Haaland is only one goal behind Lionel Messi, so his record-breaking start is enough to keep him firmly in the Golden Boot race. Haaland has seven goals in four matches for Norway, becoming the first player since Gerd Müller in 1970 to score at least seven times in his first four World Cup appearances. That underlines how exceptional his debut has been, and it gives him a realistic path to overtake Messi if he continues scoring in the knockout rounds. The gap, however, is narrow and important. Messi leads with eight goals and also has an assist, which matters because assists are the first tiebreaker if players finish level on goals. Haaland has no assists, so simply drawing level with Messi may not be enough unless Messi stops adding to his total or Haaland improves on the tiebreakers. Much depends on how far Norway go. Haaland is guaranteed at least a quarter-final against England, and if Norway advance he will get more chances to pass Messi. His form suggests that is plausible: he has scored in every match and has already produced multiple-goal performances in this tournament. Messi remains the favorite because he is ahead, has the tiebreak advantage, and Argentina are also still alive. But Haaland’s scoring rate means the race is far from settled. If Norway make a deep run and Haaland maintains anything close to his current pace, he has a strong chance to overtake Messi.

3 articles · Updated · Yahoo Sports · Jul 6

Seven goals in four matches have put Erling Haaland alongside Gerd Müller as the first player since 1970 to hit that mark in his opening World Cup appearances.
Sunday's latest strike came in Norway's win over Brazil, a result that sent the Scandinavians into the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time.
Haaland has scored in all four of Norway's matches, underlining his role as one of the tournament's defining performers.
Seven goals also leave him level with Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi atop the Golden Boot race heading into the quarter-finals.
Only Eusébio, Just Fontaine, Sándor Kocsis, Ademir and Guillermo Stábile had previously reached seven goals in their first four World Cup games.