E. Haaland: I was angered by the Italian grabbing my butt.

2025-11-17 17:00 © scanpix

The Norwegian national team made a striking entry into the World Cup, triumphing 4-1 against Italy in their last group qualifying match away.

After the match, the team's leader Erling Haaland, who scored two goals, revealed that an unsportsmanlike Italian defender Gianluca Mancini provided him with extra motivation.

The latter tried to stay "stuck" to his opponent throughout the match, pulling his hair and not sparing physical contact.

"With the score at 1-1, he started grabbing my backside and I thought, 'What are you doing?'

Angered, I became even more motivated and said, 'Thanks for the motivation, now hold on.'

I scored two goals, we won 4-1, and now I just have to thank him."

Erling Haaland 🆚 Mancini

😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/ajgNDi23Dy

— FootballWTF (@FootballWTF247) November 17, 2025