Norway striker Erling Haaland has ramped up preparations for the FIFA World Cup 2026 knockout stage, sharing training snippets on social media as he gears up for his side's Round of 32 clash against the Ivory Coast on Monday (local time) in Arlington, Texas.
Haaland's Social Media Activity
The prolific forward posted clips from his training session on X, captioning it "Knockout mode loading," as Norway intensify their preparations ahead of the high-stakes fixture. The post quickly garnered attention from fans and analysts alike.
Earlier, Haaland was photographed with Grammy-nominated American rapper Travis Scott during the ongoing World Cup. Haaland, who did not feature in Norway's final league stage match against France at Foxborough—which his team lost—posted a picture with the 'Sicko Mode' hitmaker. The Manchester City superstar also gave Travis a signed Norway jersey and added a headphones emoji to the post.
Haaland's World Cup Performance
Haaland has been one of the star performers at the ongoing FIFA World Cup, having netted braces in both of his games. He is in contention for the Golden Boot with four goals to his name. With a brace against Senegal in his last outing, Haaland became only the sixth player in FIFA World Cup history to score multiple goals in each of his first two appearances at the tournament.
The Manchester City striker joined an illustrious list comprising Guillermo Stabile of Argentina (first three matches in 1930), Hungary's Sandor Kocsis (first four matches in 1954), France's Just Fontaine (1958), Poland's Grzegorz Lato (1974), and England captain Harry Kane (2018).
Upcoming Match and Historical Context
Norway will play their Round of 32 FIFA World Cup clash against the Ivory Coast on June 30 at Arlington, aiming to match their best-ever round of 16 finish, which they achieved in their last World Cup appearance in 1998. The team is looking to advance further in the tournament with Haaland leading the attack.
