Staff Reporter.
Erling Haaland scored a hat-trick as Norway thrashed Kazakhstan to seal promotion to the top flight of the Nations League.
The Manchester City striker, who became his country’s record goalscorer last month, has now scored 38 goals in 39 appearances for Norway.
He is the Nations League top scorer with seven goals in his six group games.
He slotted in a rebound after Antonio Nusa’s shot was saved by Stas Pokatilov and doubled the lead with a header from Nusa’s cross.
Alexander Sorloth made it 3-0 before the half-time break.
Haaland placed his third goal into the bottom corner from the edge of the box from a Sander Berge ball.
Leipzig teenager Nusa scored Norway’s fifth goal.
They overtook Austria, who drew 1-1 with Slovenia, to seal top spot in Group B3.
Ralf Rangnick’s side were nine minutes away from winning the group thanks to Romano Schmid’s goal but Adam Gnezda Cerin levelled for Slovenia.
The Austrians will go into a promotion-relegation play-off with a team who finished third in the top flight.
Meanwhile England returned to the top tier of the Nations League in emphatic fashion as the Republic of Ireland were thrashed 5-0 at Wembley in Lee Carsley’s final game as interim manager.
Elsewhere Hungary coach Adam Szalai says he is “doing well” after collapsing during his side’s Nations League match against Netherlands on Saturday.
The match in Amsterdam was halted for 13 minutes when the 36-year-old was taken ill in the seventh minute.
A makeshift medical tent was erected to treat Szalai on the bench before he was rushed to hospital, leaving captain and Liverpool midfielder midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai in tears on the pitch.
“Thanks for the lots of messages, I’m doing well,” Szalai wrote on Facebook.
Hungary’s Football Association said the country’s former international striker was “stable and conscious” on Friday night.
Szalai, who won 86 caps before retiring from playing in 2023, was carried from the bench on a stretcher at the Johan Cruyff Arena before the match resumed.