Norway arrived at Gillette Stadium as heavy favourites and left having justified every syllable of that billing. Erling Haaland scored twice, a centre-back substitute added a third, and an own goal in stoppage time completed a 4-1 victory that was, for long stretches, considerably more comfortable than the scoreline suggests.
Iraq gave them a genuine fright early on. Graham Arnold's side absorbed the initial Norwegian pressure with some purpose, and when Haaland put Norway ahead in the 29th minute, set up by David Møller Wolfe driving forward from left back, Iraq did not fold. Ten minutes later Aymen Hussein equalised, converting from an Amir Al-Ammari delivery, and for a brief spell Solbakken's side looked uncertain about what came next. The Gillette Stadium crowd, sizeable and attentive, had a match on its hands, or so it appeared.
The answer, as it turned out, was to send Haaland through again. His second goal came in the 43rd minute and restored Norway's lead before the interval. That four-minute window between the Iraqi equaliser and Haaland's response proved to be the hinge of the entire evening. Iraq had found a foothold and could not keep it.
The statistics explain why the second half felt like an exercise in management rather than a contest. Norway finished with 61 per cent of the ball and completed 472 of 530 passes at 89 per cent accuracy. Their expected goals figure was 2.53. Iraq's was 0.77. Iraq managed one shot on target across 95 minutes, and Jalal Hassan in the Iraqi goal was not seriously tested because the game had moved well beyond crisis management by the time the hour arrived. Norway were not pressing for goals so much as possessing the ball until the right moment presented itself.
The third goal came from an unlikely source. Leo Østigård, introduced from the bench, headed home from a Martin Ødegaard assist in the 76th minute to put the result beyond all doubt. Solbakken had the luxury of freshening up his side without weakening it in any meaningful way, which itself says something about the depth Norway brought to Boston. The own goal in the sixth minute of stoppage time, Aymen Hussein deflecting the ball into his own net, was a particularly harsh conclusion for a player who had been one of the few Iraqi performers to emerge with genuine credit. He had scored and worked tirelessly; the game punished him anyway.
Haaland was the story Norway wanted to tell on their World Cup debut at this level. Two goals from positions of real quality, constant movement that pulled the Iraqi backline into uncomfortable shapes, and the kind of presence in the penalty area that no defensive structure in Boston has yet found a convincing answer to. Norway's expected goals figure suggests there were chances left unconverted, but a three-goal winning margin on matchday one is not a platform any team in Group I would have refused.
For Iraq, the positives are narrow but genuine. Merchas Doski was their most dependable defensive presence throughout. Al-Ammari provided the assist for the goal and worked with industry from first to last. Arnold will know, however, that 39 per cent possession and a single shot on target is not a template that will carry Iraq far in this tournament. Norway, with three points banked, Haaland already on the scoresheet twice, and a squad that looks comfortably deep, have done precisely what was asked of them.