To say that soccer is a team sport where everyone should contribute sounds like an obvious statement. That can be seen in a lot of clubs, although in National Teams it could be even more notorious that just one player can’t do everything. The examples of countries having a world class star but not being able to participate in the FIFA World Cup are plenty. Norway is precisely one of them in Qatar 2022.
That situation is something that Mohammed Salah is going through inEgypt. Robert Lewandowski in Poland could appear as another case where there is an outstanding gap in talent between the star and the rest of the squad. This time, it’s happening to a player destined to be among the best for the next decade like Erling Haaland is.
Norway wasn’t able to form a team around him good enough to make it to the World Cup. They weren’t that far away though. Given how young Haaland is, the opportunities shouldn’t lack, but they must take advantage of having a top 3 striker in the world. Read along to find out why the Norwegian side won’t be in Qatar.
Why did Norway not qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar?
In the UEFA qualifiers to Qatar 2022 there were 55 teams divided into 10 groups, five of five squads and five others with six participants in each. Norway were drawn in group G along with Netherlands, Turkey, Montenegro, Latvia, and Gibraltar. From those, only the leader was going to advance directly to the FIFA World Cup.
The one who finished second was going to be in the playoffs, so that seemed like an attainable goal for Norway given the favorites were the Dutch. It was definitely a close race, since both the Norwegian team and Turkey got to the last Matchday tied in 18 points. Although a loss visiting Netherlands combined with a Turkish victory over Montenegro to eliminate them.
Undoubtedly a key injury played a big role in their inability to be near the top. In that scenario, Haaland was dealing with various physical issues that led him to miss their last four games. Therefore, it’s not a coincidence that Norway only won one of those matchups. They had five triumphs, three ties, and two losses, but it wasn’t enough to get to Qatar 2022.
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