'Finally': Norway star Erling Haaland on fulfillin...

playWorld Cup legends and celebrities reveal their tournament predictions (1:22) Erling Haaland has won two Premier League titles and the Champions League, as well as individual awards in Austria, Germany and England. Yet, for a long time, the Manchester City striker felt there was something missing. In November in Milan, the itch was finally scratched in a 4-1 win over Italy that finally confirmed Norway's place at the 2026 World Cup. It will be Haaland's first major international tournament, and Norway's first appearance at the World Cup for 28 years. Haaland did his bit to get there, scoring 16 goals in UEFA qualifying -- eight more than anyone else and in just eight games -- including two in two minutes in the final fixture in the San Siro. This summer, he will realise a dream he had started to fear might never happen. In an exclusive pre-tournament interview, Haaland told ESPN that his already glittering career would feel incomplete had he not been able to help Norway back to soccer's biggest stage. "Yeah, definitely," Haaland said. "It felt missing in 2022 in Qatar and also in the Euros in 2024. So now it finally happened, and it was about time. "It was a lot of pressure. It is a lot of pressure now still, but yeah, I could feel it ever since I started with the national team, the pressure [to get to a World Cup]. The more time I've been there, the more pressure, of course, on my shoulders. But again, even better that we managed to do it, and it's an amazing feeling. "To qualify for the World Cup is a really special thing. I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be amazing. Finally." The significance of qualification isn't lost on Haaland. Growing up in Bryne, towards the southern tip of Norway, he never had the chance to watch his own country at a World Cup. His memories of the tournament revolve around special moments for other nations. After making his international debut as a teenager in 2019, he was part of the squad that failed to qualify for Euro 2020, the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and Euro 2024 in Germany. Erling Haaland has 55 goals in 50 games for Norway. Jared C. Tilton - FIFA/FIFA via Getty ImagesBy booking their place at a first major tournament since the 1998 World Cup, this group -- which also includes Arsenal midfielder Martin Ødegaard and Atlético Madrid striker Alexander Sørloth -- have guaranteed a generation of Norwegian football fans the chance to cheer on their own players. "I never experienced Norway being at a World Cup in my lifetime," Haaland said. "Of course, I would have liked them to be in the World Cup, but I don't have any experience of it. I'm just happy now that we qualified, and all the young Norwegian kids can experience how it is to have their country there, and for sure they will remember these moments as well. "I remember the 2010 opening game [between South Africa and Mexico] and in 2014 when James Rodríguez was amazing. You have these things that you remember from the World Cup, and hopefully, now we can be a part of these amazing moments. "I want to create something special there together with the whole nation, and hopefully we can make that happen." Predict the final standings in every Group. $10,000 in prizes. Make Your Picks Haaland was born in Leeds, England, in 2000 during a summer that saw his former professional footballer father, Alfie, move from Leeds United and Manchester City. Despite holding dual nationality that would have allowed him to represent England, Haaland feels every bit the homegrown Norwegian. Before flying to their U.S. training base in Greensboro, North Carolina, Stale Solbakken's squad took part in Norway's send-off photograph. It wasn't the usual "waving on the steps of an plane" shot, but rather every player dressed in traditional Viking clothing on the banks of a Norwegian fjord. It's titled "The Vikings are coming," and for Haaland, it's more than just shareable social content. The culture and history of his country means so much to him that in March, he paid 1.3 million Norwegian krones ($136,000) to buy a rare Viking book. The book, the only surviving copy of a work by 13th-century historian Snorri Sturluson, which was printed in 1594, has been donated to a library in Bryne so it can be viewed by the public. "I'm proud to be a Norwegian," Haaland said. "There's a lot of history in Norway as a country, and that's why I did it." With the World Cup being hosted in the U.S. -- along with Mexico and Canada -- there will be a certain symmetry for Haaland and his family. play0:52Erling Haaland loved Game 5 of the Stanley CupAlfie was part of the Norway squad that qualified for the last World Cup to be held in North America in 1994. Norway played twice in New Jersey 32 years ago, in a 1-0 defeat to Italy and a goalless draw with the Republic of Ireland. Haaland junior, meanwhile, is going back to East Rutherford -- albeit to MetLife Stadium rather than Giants Stadium -- to face Senegal in Norway's second game in Gro

'Finally': Norway star Erling Haaland on fulfillin...

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