Erling Haaland, the top goalscorer for World Cup qualifying games with 12 goals (after netting five against Moldova last month, he scored a hat-trick against Israel in a 5-0 victory last Saturday), has been given permission to leave the Norwegian team early and miss the upcoming match against New Zealand on Tuesday, which unlike the previous match last weekend, is a friendly.
Haaland has left the training camp and is returning to Manchester early than expected, so that he can re-join his teammates at Manchester City and continue his Premier League campaign, not because of an injury. He is not the only one: Alexander Sorloth from Atlético Madrid, Julian Ryerson from Borussia Dortmund, and Fredrik Bjorkan from Bodo/Glimt are also leaving the national team as they have "a particular tight match schedule", Norway's national team said.
With 18 points, Norway is nearing direct qualification for World Cup as Group I leaders. Only Italy, if they defeat Israel tomorrow, could become a threat with 12, potentially 15 points tomorrow, but Norway's vastly superior goal difference of 26 (vs. Italy's 7) means they have the upper hand in next month Italy vs. Norway fixture.