Golf, games and parenting tips - how Norway's Haaland is preparing for World Cup opener
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June 12 : Norwegian striker Erling Haaland has been keeping himself busy ahead of his side's opening World Cup game against Iraq by playing golf and video games, and even helping to prepare teammate Leo Ostigard for fatherhood as the defender's first child is due any day now.
Haaland became a dad for the first time in late 2025 but Ostigard will miss the birth of his firstborn due to his involvement with Norway who are appearing at a World Cup finals for the first time since 1998.
Asked on the Norwegian team's World Cup YouTube channel "Spillerhotellet" (The Players' Hotel) if he had any tips he could offer his team-mate, Haaland laughed.
"Well, first of all, I would have said to be present during the birth, that's the first tip I would give him!" the striker said. "It will be a new daily routine for him, a tough time but it's a lovely time as well."
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The Norwegians have been preparing for their Group I clashes with Iraq, Senegal and France at their base in Greensboro, North Carolina, and Haaland has been helping Ostigard get into golf during their downtime.
"There's been a lot of golf, I'm a beginner there and Erling is pretty good, so it's been nice to play a bit of golf and do some other things as well," Ostigard said.
"Everyone does their own thing. Some play cards, we don't, we play golf, we joke, we play a bit of (Super) Mario, a bit of Pokemon and so on. We know how to enjoy ourselves," Haaland added.
It's a good thing for the Norwegians that they have plenty of hobbies as, with 48 teams taking part in the World Cup, they will not join the fray until Wednesday when they take on Iraq in Boston, almost a week after the opening games.
"It feels good, I'm really looking forward to starting, I'm starting to get a bit restless," Haaland said. "I'm looking forward to it, it's just a matter of pushing on to the first match, and then we have to hope for the best."
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