Haaland’s Unwanted International Record Continues After Norway’s Euro 2024 Dissapointment

• Norway’s hopes of finishing in the top 2 of their Euro 2024 qualifying are over
• The Norwegians needed Israel to beat Romania for any chance of qualifying
• Haaland and his international teammates face Scotland on Sunday in a ‘dead rubber’ game on Sunday

Norway were dealt a painful reality on Saturday, November 18 as their non-qualification for the Euro 2024 was confirmed without the players kicking a football.

Erling Haaland and company were not in action on Saturday, but were heavily dependent on other results going their way to stand a chance of making it to their first major international tournament.

But Romania’s 2-1 win over Israel helped them top Group I, meaning Norway cannot mathematically make it to the finals. Israel needed to beat Romania for the Scandinavians to stand a chance.

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There is still hope for Israel, who will have to go through the playoffs alongside Group J’s Bosnia.

No room for Haaland in Euro 2024

There were hints that Norway’s qualification campaign would be gloomy after their hopes for automatically qualification was ended by Spain on October 15.

But perhaps the game which the Scandinavians will look at with most regret will be the 2-1 defeat against Scotland four months prior.

The date of that fixture had some significance as it came just days after Manchester City concluded celebrations after a historic treble. Haaland, of course, was part of those over-the-top celebrations.

There was a general feeling that perhaps the 23-year-old Haaland was not physically or mentally ready to face Scotland, but that can only be speculated since Norway ended up losing the game.

Failure to qualify for the Euro 2024 prolonged Norway’s long wait for an appearance at a major international tournament, as the last time the nation was at a World Cup or Euros was in the year 2000, the same year Haaland was born.

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Who else has qualified

Meanwhile, as reported on BBC, other nations are in joyous mood after securing qualification for the Euro 2024 spectacle.

One such nation is Switzerland, whose point against Kosovo ensured a second place finish in Group I.

Netherlands secured a 1-0 victory through a Wout Weghorst goal, and the win saw them finish behind France.

Wales have a slim chance of qualifying as they are guaranteed of a play-off spot if they fail to automatically qualify from their group.