Manchester City forward Erling Haaland continued his blistering form at the tournament, taking his tally to four goals in two matches. His exploits came just hours after Lionel Messi netted a brace to extend his record World Cup tally to 18 goals, while Kylian Mbappe also scored twice as France defeated Iraq 3-0.
Norway, who have lost only once in their last 18 matches, will face France in a mouth-watering battle for top spot in the group in Boston on Friday.
Senegal, meanwhile, must beat Iraq—who are also yet to earn a point—in their final group match to keep alive their hopes of reaching the knockout stage.
Inspired by the prolific Haaland, who increased his remarkable international tally to 59 goals in 52 appearances, Norway secured back-to-back World Cup victories for the first time in their history.
The Norwegians strengthened the belief that they can challenge for the title with a commanding display against a Senegal side that paid dearly for costly mistakes.
Norway made a bright start, with Kristoffer Ajer’s powerful header forcing Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy into an excellent save with his legs from a corner. However, the Norwegians suffered an early setback when full-back Julian Ryerson was forced off through injury.
Captain Martin Odegaard later blazed over from an inviting cut-back, while Nicolas Jackson looked Senegal’s most dangerous attacking outlet.
Mendy was called into action again, producing another superb save to deny Odegaard after Haaland expertly cushioned Antonio Nusa’s chipped cross into his path.
However, the Senegal goalkeeper was at fault for Norway’s opener, allowing Marcus Pedersen’s low effort to slip underneath him after captain Kalidou Koulibaly’s poor giveaway gifted possession to the replacement right-back on the edge of the area.
Haaland then struck the post from a tight angle after Mendy misjudged the situation, but the Manchester City striker made no mistake three minutes into the second half as Norway sliced Senegal open on the counter-attack.
Odegaard surged forward before threading a perfectly weighted pass into Haaland’s path, and the striker calmly fired past Mendy to add to the two goals he scored in Norway’s opening 4-1 victory over Iraq.
Senegal pulled one back when Ismaila Sarr showed great composure to poke home after tumbling in the box following a clever flick from Sadio Mane, raising hopes of a comeback.
