HAAL OF FAME Topless Haaland hugs future Queen of Norway in dressing room after ‘surreal’ Brazil win Man City ace never dreamt of

ERLING HAALAND received a royal greeting from the future Queen of Norway after sending his nation through to the World Cup quarter-finals.

The 25-year-old was embraced by Princess Ingrid Alexandra after the 2-1 win against Brazil at New York New Jersey Stadium on Sunday. Princess Alexandra, eldest daughter of Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Mariet, paid a visit to the Norway dressing room to personally congratulate the squad.

Alongside her brother, Prince Sverre Magnus, she spoke to each player and even offered Haaland a hug.

The striker scored twice to inspire the Scandinavian side to victory against the five-time champions.

He then took centre stage to beat the drum at full-time for the nation’s iconic Viking row celebration. Asked if it was one of the best moments of his life, Haaland admitted: “Yes. It’s a bit surreal because it is unreal and I need to pinch myself sometimes in the arm

“It’s not often I’m at a loss for words, but right now it might be that I am.

“I didn’t ever dream of this in my life. I dreamt of playing in the World Cup with Norway and taking them to the World Cup, but I never expected to win against Brazil.

“It is such a weird feeling that we’ve actually beaten Brazil. “I struggled to believe that I could manage to peak more in terms of achievements in my life but I guess I’m wrong. I am showing myself that it’s possible.”

He added: “I don’t think I’m a ten on the ratings. To be completely honest, I give myself an eight or nine.

“We have many good football players. We also have the balls to take the ball down and control an entire match against Brazil, and that is completely unbelievable.

“We are changing the nation.

“The way we played shows that Norway is a fantastic football team and that we are actually one of the better teams in Europe and in the world because what we’ve been doing is amazing.

“It took 28 years [for Norway to get back to a World Cup], took some time.

“I’m 25 years old, so you can’t really blame me for that. But you can blame me for getting here.

“I’m proud of my country and I’m proud of everyone.”

Haaland got his first goal by outjumping Arsenal foe Gabriel to head in the opener on 79 minutes and sealed the famous victory – the biggest in Norway’s history – with a low arrowed drive into the bottom corner to break Brazilian hearts.

That drew him level with Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi on seven goals at this tournament as the Golden Boot race reached boiling point. Incredibly, he moved within one of Neymar’s all-time World Cup tally of eight before the retiring playmaker slotted in his last-minute penalty.

Haaland has scored seven goals in four World Cup matches from just 18 shots – and has 58 in 63 for club and country this season.