Records are made to be broken, but not usually by such an absurd margin.
In a U-20 World Cup match between Norway and Honduras, 18-year-old Erling Braut Håland scored a “hat trick of hat tricks,” netting nine goals in 83 minutes (he scored his first in the seventh minute) to shatter the previous record for goals in a match at the tournament; the previous record was six.
Norway’s 12-goal margin of victory is also a record for the U-20 World Cup.
Håland’s (which can also be spelled Haaland) nine were part of a 12-0 thrashing that Norway put on the CONCACAF squad, in a match it had to win to advance to the Round of 16 (it did).
While Håland isn’t a particularly well-known prospect on the international stage, he’s not completely under the radar, either. Håland currently plays for Austrian power Red Bull Salzburg, having previously broken out at Norwegian side Molde, where he was coached by current Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, among others. He scored 12 goals in his final season in Norway before moving to Austria in January, where he scored once in just two appearances after his transfer.
That’s all distant background info now, following a performance for the ages that included a hat trick of his seventh, eighth and ninth goals in eight second half minutes alone.
Here are highlights from Håland’s big night, which might not be matched for some time:
