Seventy-ninth minute, MetLife Stadium, July 5. Norway against Brazil in the knockout rounds of the World Cup. Andreas Schjelderup picks out Erling Haaland, and Haaland heads it in.
In the 90th minute, Schjelderup finds him again. Two goals, both from the same teammate. Neymar scored a late penalty, and it was not enough. Norway won 2-1 and were in a World Cup quarterfinal for the first time in their history.
This is a country that had not played at a World Cup at all since 1998.
Most people know him as the goal machine at Manchester City. Three Premier League Golden Boots. What most people do not know is that for years he was the small, light kid playing against older boys in a farm town in southwest Norway. And before any of that, at five years old, he set a world record. It was not in football.
1.63 meters
January 22, 2006. Bryne, a small farming town in southwest Norway. A five-year-old boy stands at a line, jumps from a standing start and lands 1.63 meters away.
No five-year-old on record has jumped farther. The boy was Erling Haaland.
Leeds to Bryne
He was not even born in Norway. Haaland was born on July 21, 2000, in Leeds, England, where his father, Alf-Inge, was playing for Leeds United. Alf-Inge had come up through the youth teams at Bryne and played 34 times for Norway. Erling's mother, Gry Marita Braut, was a Norwegian heptathlon champion.
His father retired through injury in 2003, at 30. In 2004, when Erling was three, the family moved back to Bryne, a town of about 12,000 people roughly 25 miles south of Stavanger.
Growing up he did a bit of everything. Handball. Athletics, his mother's sport. Cross-country skiing, until he was 14. In the end he chose football.
A year up
His youth coach was Alf Ingve Berntsen, a PE teacher who, like most youth coaches in Norway, did it as a volunteer. Berntsen ran a group of about 40 boys. Haaland played a year up, with the boys born in 1999, so he was shorter and slimmer than almost everyone on the pitch.
The club had three rules for every player: be on time, always do your best, and behave.
The kids trained in Jaerhallen, an unheated covered hall open to anyone. Friends organized their own sessions in there. Berntsen has said Haaland did not have the physical strength back then, so he had to be clever with his movement. He scored constantly.
His father came to the matches but stayed away from training and let him develop on his own. Out of those 40 boys, five went on to play for Norway's national teams. Haaland was one of them.
"Erling was small and rather lightweight, but given his genes we knew he would probably grow up to be a big guy."
Alf Ingve Berntsen, his youth coach in Bryne, to Reuters, 2021
Six foot four
He did grow up to be a big guy. Around 15, he shot up to 194 centimeters, six foot four. He made his debut for the Bryne first team at 15.
In February 2017, at 16, he signed for Molde, where the manager was Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Then it was Red Bull Salzburg. Then Borussia Dortmund. Then, in 2022, Manchester City.
In his first season in England he scored 36 Premier League goals, a league record, and City won the treble. In January 2025 he signed a contract that runs to 2034. In December 2025 he became the fastest player ever to reach 100 Premier League goals. He needed 111 games. Alan Shearer had needed 13 more.
Last season, 2025-26, he scored 27 in the league and took his third Golden Boot in four seasons, level with Shearer and Harry Kane. City won the FA Cup and the League Cup. But Arsenal won the league, and Pep Guardiola left after ten years.
San Siro
The World Cup run started in Milan. On November 16, 2025, at San Siro, Haaland scored twice in two minutes in a 4-1 win over Italy that sent Norway to the 2026 tournament. He finished qualifying with 16 goals in the group, level with the European record held by Robert Lewandowski.
Then came the summer. Seven goals at the World Cup, including those two against Brazil.
On July 11, in Miami Gardens, England stopped him. He was playing on a dead leg from the second half, and he came off in extra time. Jude Bellingham scored both of England's goals in a 2-1 win. Norway's coach, Stale Solbakken, said afterward that Haaland was finished.
"How we put Norway on the map is maybe one thing that touches me the most."
Erling Haaland, after the quarterfinal against England, July 11, 2026
Back at the Etihad
He went back to Manchester and a new manager, Enzo Maresca. On October 17, 2026, at the Etihad, he scored twice against Ipswich Town, one header and one low finish, in a 3-2 win.
He is 26 now, and six foot four. Back in Bryne, the long jump record the five-year-old set that January day still stands.
GAMECHANGER™Reporting draws on the Associated Press, Reuters, ManCity.com, TSN, Channels TV, bdnews24, Etusuora and Wikipedia's documented record of his career.
Sources (11)
ManCity.com: Erling Haaland, 10 things factfile · Etusuora: Erling Haaland's long jump world record for five-year-olds · Reuters via Gulf News: Haaland, the star product of an unlikely football factory in Bryne · ManCity.com: Haaland and Bryne FK · ManCity.com: Erling Haaland wins 2025-26 Golden Boot · ManCity.com: Haaland at the trophy parade, more to come · TSN: Haaland double helps Norway reach first World Cup since 1998 · Channels TV: Haaland's Norway stun Brazil 2-1 to reach World Cup quarterfinals · Associated Press via KOB: Erling Haaland neutralized by England and subbed off late as Norway's World Cup run ends · bdnews24: Haaland double helps Man City win, Neto brace cheers Chelsea · Africa Soccer: Haaland leads early Premier League 2026-27 scoring chart