Match report
Haaland double sends Norway past Denmark in Nations League opener
Norway edged a five-goal thriller 3-2 against Denmark in their opening UEFA Nations League League A - 1 fixture, with the hosts holding on despite a late red card. The result lifted Solbakken's side to the top of Group 4 with three points, while Denmark sit third after this opening defeat.
AI-assisted match report written from official match data.
Norway raced into a two-goal lead inside the first 18 minutes, Oscar Bobb finishing from a Martin Ødegaard assist before Erling Haaland doubled the advantage, set up by Antonio Nusa. Denmark responded quickly through Mikkel Damsgaard to make it 2-1 at the break, and Rasmus Højlund levelled matters on 60 minutes to bring the visitors level at 2-2.
Haaland restored Norway's lead in the 74th minute, converting another Ødegaard assist to make it 3-2, a margin that held to the final whistle. Norway's task was complicated deep into stoppage time when David Møller Wolfe was sent off in the 90th+3 minute, leaving the hosts to see out the closing moments a man down.
Haaland struck twice, including the decisive 74th-minute goal, to finish with a rating of 9.49, while Ødegaard's two assists underlined his influence throughout the game.
Denmark picked up three yellow cards to Norway's none, reflecting a niggling edge to the contest that boiled over with Wolfe's late dismissal.
Norway beat Denmark 3–2 (half-time 2–1).
Norway met Denmark in the UEFA Nations League (League A - 1). Kick-off was Thursday, 24 September 2026, 18:45 UTC at Ullevaal Stadion. Referee: Tobias Stieler.
Team pages: Norway · Denmark · UEFA Nations League
Key moments
- 14' Goal: Oscar Bobb (assist: Martin Ødegaard) — 1–0 · Watch Oscar Bobb's goal video (14')
- 18' Goal: Erling Haaland (assist: Antonio Nusa) — 2–0 · Watch Erling Haaland's goal video (18')
- 25' Goal: Mikkel Damsgaard — 2–1 · Watch Mikkel Damsgaard's goal video (25')
- 60' Goal: Rasmus Højlund — 2–2 · Watch Rasmus Højlund's goal video (60')
- 74' Goal: Erling Haaland (assist: Martin Ødegaard) — 3–2 · Watch Erling Haaland's goal video (74')
- 90+3' Red card: David Møller Wolfe
Starting line-ups
Norway (4-3-3)
Denmark (4-2-3-1)
Sirius · Why these numbers
Before kick-off Sirius gave Norway 56%, the draw 23%, Denmark 21%. It finished Norway 3–2 Denmark.
Norway's rating edge carries it — Norway are the stronger side on our strength rating, and that is most of Norway's 56%. The draw at 23% is held down by a high-scoring environment.
Why Norway at 56%?
Norway sit 107 points higher on our strength rating — 1926 to 1818. Sides with a 80–160-point rating edge at home won 56.9% of 13,263 such games. The 300 most similar past games finished 55–24–21.
Why only 56%?
Denmark hold 8 more possession points (63 to 55 in recent games) across a 107-point rating gap. Control now carries a receipt beyond near-equals too: sides with this control edge at a 60–120-point rating gap won 42.7% of 8,526 such games where the class table expected 40.8%.
Why is the draw only 23%?
With a rating gap this size the draw starts at 24.5%. These teams' recent games average 4.0 goals — a high-scoring environment. Games in that environment drew 22.9% of 17,245. The goals environment takes 2.1 points off the draw.
What did we measure but not count?
Norway scored +1.26 goals per game beyond chance-quality lately — hot streaks like that have cooled off. Measured across 2,823 games at this rating gap, hot-finishing sides won 41.7% vs 42.6% class-expected — inside the noise band, so it scores 0 until the receipt clears its evidence bar. Norway have gained 112 strength-rating points over their last 10 games. Momentum is measured but not yet proven: climbing sides won 40.2% of 11,110 such games vs 40.6% class-expected — inside the noise band, so it stays at 0 points until the receipt clears its evidence bar. The other measured facts on this page scored nothing either.
Sirius probabilities, frozen at kick-off. Analysis, not betting advice. How Sirius is doing this season · Full breakdown, evidence cards and squad news in the Match Insights tab
About this match
On this page: the Norway vs Denmark final score and result, goal highlights and video clips of every goal, who scored, starting lineups, match stats and the full match report from this UEFA Nations League fixture.
- Who scored and when — a goal-by-goal timeline of the match.
- Match stats — possession, shots, expected goals (xG), corners and cards.
- Starting lineups and player ratings for both teams.
- Head-to-head record and recent form for both sides.
- Watch Oscar Bobb's goal against Denmark (14').
- Watch Erling Haaland's goal against Denmark (18').
- Watch Mikkel Damsgaard's goal against Norway (25').
- Watch Rasmus Højlund's goal against Norway (60').
- Watch Erling Haaland's goal against Denmark (74').
Watch the goals: goal highlights and video clips of every goal from Norway 3–2 Denmark. Explore more on the Norway and Denmark team pages or the UEFA Nations League page.