Brazil x Norway marks a meeting of Premier League scorers in the World Cup

Brazil and Norway face one of the most anticipated clashes in the round of 16 of the World Cup this Sunday (5), in New Jersey, in the United States. In addition to the place in the quarterfinals, the match will pit the two biggest scorers from the last edition of the Premier League face to face: Igor Thiago, from Brentford, and Erling Haaland, from Manchester City.

Haaland ended the season as the English league's top scorer, with 27 goals, and right behind was Igor Thiago, who scored 22 times in his first season for Brentford and established himself as one of the main Brazilian revelations in European football. At the World Cup, however, moments are different.

Haaland is one of Norway's highlights and has five goals in the competition, just one behind the top scorers, Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi. Igor Thiago started as a starter in Brazil's debut, in the 1-1 draw with Morocco, but lost space in the following matches. Even so, he once again gained status as an option for coach Carlo Ancelotti in light of injuries to the Brazilian squad.

Outstanding season in England
Igor Thiago's campaign in the Premier League drew attention due to its numbers. Of the 22 goals scored, two were headed, five with the right leg, seven with the left and eight from penalty kicks. The striker found the net twice in five matches and also scored a hat-trick in the 4-2 victory over Everton.

The performance also saw the Brazilian surpass a mark that belonged to Roberto Firmino, Gabriel Martinelli and Matheus Cunha, becoming the Brazilian with the most goals in a single edition of the Premier League.

Signed by Brentford in July 2024 for around 30 million pounds, Igor Thiago arrived in English football after notable spells at Ludogorets, in Bulgaria, and Club Brugge, in Belgium. Revealed by Cruzeiro, the striker scored 21 goals in 52 matches for the Bulgarian club and then scored 29 goals in 55 games in his first season in Belgium.

The good moment opened the doors for the Brazilian team. Called up by Carlo Ancelotti for the preparatory friendlies against France and Croatia in March, Igor Thiago experienced a moment that he defined as the realization of a dream.

"It doesn't even seem like this is real. Only those who live in this moment will know what I'm talking about. It's a nice feeling, something I've never experienced," he told the CBF website.

Before the trip to the World Cup, the striker also scored one of the goals in the 6-2 victory over Panama, at Maracanã, in the team's last friendly.

Dispute with Haaland
Even before the World Cup, Igor Thiago commented on the dispute for the Premier League's top scorer with Haaland and highlighted that competing with the Norwegian served as motivation to achieve space in the National Team.

"Being behind Haaland, looking for goals with him, a player who is a goal-scoring machine, gives me even more impetus to represent my country. I think you have to have these numbers to be able to represent such a huge team", he said.

Among the most viewed
In addition to their performance on the field, Haaland and Igor Thiago also appear among the players who arouse the most interest among fans.

According to data from Flashscore, Haaland accumulated 20.3 million views on his athlete profile in the 2025/26 season, in the Open Details metric, which counts how many times users access detailed information about a player. The Norwegian striker occupies fourth place in the overall ranking, behind only Kylian Mbappé, Lamine Yamal and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Igor Thiago also appears in a prominent position. The Brazilian has 13.6 million hits and is the second most searched athlete from Brazil on the platform, behind only Vinicius Júnior. He surpasses names like Raphinha, Endrick, Neymar and Matheus Cunha.

Now, after sharing the competition for the Premier League's top scorer, Igor Thiago and Haaland meet again on an even bigger stage. This time, the prize at stake is a place in the quarter-finals of the World Cup.

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Source: CNN