WC 2026 qualifiers: Cristiano Ronaldo equals world record, Haaland nets FIVE in Norway’s 11-1 win

FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers: Cristiano Ronaldo equalled the world scoring record with his 39th qualifier goal for Portugal as Norway superstar Erling Haaland blasted five to push his team towards first finals qualification in 37 years.

WC 2026 Qualifiers: While Ronaldo equalled the qualifying record, Erling Haaland smashed a staggering five on Tuesday. (AP)

Cristiano Ronaldo extended his goal-scoring form with a penalty strike in Portugal’s scrappy 3-2 win over Hungary while Erling Haaland smashed a sensational tally of five goals in Norway’s massive 11-1 mauling of Moldova in the World Cup 2026 qualifiers on Tuesday night.

Portugal scraped through with Joao Cancelo scoring a late winner, two minutes after the hosts had equalised, to put them in control at the top of Group F with two away wins from two. The visitors had come from behind to lead thanks to Ronaldo’s penalty, but almost let the three points slip when conceding late on before Cancelo’s goal rescued the win to add to their 5-0 success in Armenia on Saturday.

Adding to two goals against Armenia that vaulted him past Lionel Messi in qualifier goals, Ronaldo’s success from the spot meant the 40-year-old superstar equalled the world record for most FIFA World Cup qualifiers goals with his 39th strike in only 49 matches for Portugal. Ronaldo levelled Guatemala’s Carlos Ruiz as the joint-top scorer, while pushing his international record to 141 in 223 games.

🚨Cristiano Ronaldo since 30:

• 567 games.
• 480 goals.
• 103 assists.

pic.twitter.com/NLZiEDYxzu

— CristianoXtra (@CristianoXtra_) September 9, 2025

Most goals in FIFA WC Qualifiers

PLAYER	COUNTRY	MTS	GOALS
Carlos Ruiz	Guatemala	47	39
Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	49	39
Lionel Messi	Argentina	72	36
Ali Daei	Iran	51	35
Robert Lewandowski	Poland	40	31
Luis Suarez	Uruguay	64	29

FIVE-star Haaland

Meanwhile in Oslo, Norway, led by star striker Erling Haaland‘s five goals, defeated Moldova 11-1. Substitute Thelo Aasgaard also contributed significantly, scoring four times to puts Norway on course to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1998.

Don't watch the ball, watch Haaland. pic.twitter.com/7kKJE125M1

— Uzumaki Tony (@UzumakiTony1) September 9, 2025

With five games played, Norway leads Group I with 15 points, six points ahead of second-place Italy. Moldova remains at the bottom of the group with no points.
Haaland’s beautiful cushioned pass teed up Felix Horn Myhre to break the deadlock with a sixth-minute tap-in, and Martin Odegaard should have made it two a minute later, but he blazed the ball over from close range. The Norwegians didn’t have to wait long for another goal as Haaland rattled home in the 11th minute, snapping up a loose ball in the box and sweeping it into the far corner.

Haaland slotted home his second to round off a Norwegian counter-attack in the 36th minute and completed his hat-trick before the break.

– With Reuters inputs