With Erling Braut Haaland in the starting XI, his home country is a contender for a massive role in the world of football.Without him, Norway are as poor as it gets.That’s, basically, the take from today’s qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Norway were given a simple task to win a home game against more than modest Latvia and secure themselves, at least, a place in the play-offs. But there was one little catch there – they had to do it without the injured Haaland. And guess what? They failed, big time.Dortmund suffer the worst news of the season: Haaland is set to miss 12 matchesNot even 100 minutes (yes, the injury time lasted as much as 10 minutes) were not enough for Martin Odegaard and his compatriots to clinch a vital victory with the game ended in a goalless draw, 0-0.Moreover, Turkey hammered Gibraltar 6-0, leapfrogged Norway in the second place, and will probably prevent Haaland from going to the World Cup next year.Turkey beat Gibraltar 6-0 while Norway are held to a 0-0 by Latvia, which means both nations still have a chance to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup from Group G. pic.twitter.com/PcEeWYHGVp— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) November 13, 2021 Sure, even Haaland-less Norway were much dominant tonight in Oslo, but 25 attempts weren’t sufficient to find the back of the net. The Latvian team was on the ropes for most of the game, yet finding ways to protect them from cannonades.##NAJAVA_MECA_5974651##Elyounoussi even netted late in the second half, but the goal was rightfully disallowed due to offside. Latvian’ keeper Ozols ended the game in bandages, with blood rushing on his head, but his spectacular saves are the ones to blame for a stalemate. And for the dreadful outcome from Norway’s perspective that proved how weak they are without their top star.
