Antonio Nusa stars as Norway crush Italy in one sided encounter

OSLO: Norway thrashed Italy by 3-0 to hand the visitors defeat in their opening match of 2026 World Cup qualifier here at Ullevaal Stadion on Friday.

Norway lead the group I with nine points after three matches, while Italy were playing their first match in the qualifying campaign.

The home crowd, who were watching the match in rainy conditions, were provided a reason to cheer after 14 minutes when Alexander Sorloth scored on a through ball from Antonio Nusa and slotted it home from close range.

Nusa, who already showed glimpses of brilliance earlier with an assist extended Norway’s lead to 2-0 at the 34 minutes mark, controlling a pass with a first touch, and showing individual brilliance to drill it in from the edge of the box.

Sorloth found another chance after the half-hour mark, but keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was sharp enough to block a low, sneaky attempt at the near post.

The first-half route continued when another through ball from Martin Odegaard found an unmarked Erling Haaland, who rounded Donnarumma to score Norway's third just before the break.

The story of one-sided first half continued when Martin Ødegaard played another perfect through pass to Erling Haaland, who went around goalkeeper Donnarumma and scored Norway’s third at the 42nd minute mark to end the first 3-0.

Italy possessed the ball most of the time, but their attacks were frequently broken down, resulting in only a single attempt on target. Lorenzo Lucca found a golden opportunity for them in stoppage time with a header that was comfortably saved by Norwegian goalkeeper Orjan Nyland.