Erling Haaland and Gianluigi Donnarumma are set to work together as Manchester City teammates for the first time this week.
Manchester City signed Donnarumma on transfer deadline day, but the Italian had to jet off for international duty as soon as the window slammed shut.
Haaland and Donnarumma are, however, on opposing sides at international level, with both vying for automatic qualification for the 2026 World Cup.
Norway are currently well ahead of Italy, having beaten the Azzurri 3-0 back in June and building on it with two more wins in September.
And after Norway’s 11-1 thrashing of Moldova, Haaland reportedly said something which Donnarumma will hate and respect in equal measure.
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Norway's forward #09 Erling Braut Haland (R) kicks to score the 4-0 goal during the 2026 World Cup qualifiers Europe zone group I football match between Norway and Moldova on September 9, 2025 in Oslo, Norway.
Photo by FREDRIK VARFJELL/NTB/AFP via Getty Images
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Erling Haaland was on fire in Norway’s meeting with Moldova, bagging five goals and two assists as the Scandinavian nation notched up double figures.
Cristian Avram, Moldova’s goalkeeper, revealed that Haaland apologised to him after the game and told him it wasn’t his fault.
However, the Manchester City star said he had to think of Norway’s goal difference compared to that of Italy, added Avram.
Gianluigi Donnarumma will surely not have enjoyed reading that, considering how far behind Italy are at present.
That said, the Azzurri goalkeeper will not be necessarily annoyed with Haaland, because any professional footballer would obviously do what’s best for his side.
Indeed, Donnarumma will likely respect what Haaland has said, but at the same time, it shows exactly what Italy are up against in their qualifying group.
Norway are in the midst of a golden generation at present, and they’ve been absolutely ruthless when it comes to getting results.
Meanwhile, Italy fell to a heavy defeat to the Norwegians, while their erratic 5-4 win over Israel shows they have a lot of work to do.
And considering Italy have already missed out on two World Cups in a row, a third consecutive failure to reach the tournament would be absolutely humiliating.
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Could Italy and Norway both reach the 2026 World Cup?
Italy and Norway can both reach the 2026 World Cup, but one of the two nations will have to take a much harder route in order to do so.
Only the 12 group winners qualify automatically; the four remaining berths are determined by playoffs involving the 12 runners-up in each group.
They are joined by the four best-ranked group winners of the 2024/25 UEFA Nations League that did not finish in first or second place in their Euro 2024 qualifiers.
The 16 teams will then contest a single-legged playoff semi-final followed by a single-legged playoff final, and the four victors will qualify for the World Cup.
Considering Italy have fallen short in the playoffs in 2018 and 2022, they will be desperate to avoid having to navigate that route once again.
However, Norway are in pole position and they’re in no mood to let their advantage slip.