Erling Haaland knows the pressure that comes with being a penalty taker for your nation. When the Norwegian striker saw a longer-than-usual wait for one of his compatriots at the World Cup, he couldn’t help but give his sharp verdict on social media by exaggerating the issue.
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France’s Kylian Mbappé won a penalty in the 25th minute when Morocco’s Noussair Mazraoui brought him down in the box during their quarterfinal clash. But the on-field referee, Argentine Facundo Figueroa, was checking with VAR for three minutes and 11 seconds before Mbappe was allowed to take the penalty kick. The delay ultimately resulted in Mbappé losing his focus and missing the spot kick as Yassine Bounou made a fantastic save at full stretch.
Haaland, arguably the best striker in world soccer and the designated penalty taker for Norway and Manchester City, was watching the match from his team hotel. He snapped the incident and wrote, “Need to wait 5 min to take a penalty is way too long,” on his Snapchat.
🚨 Erling Haaland on Snapchat: “Need to wait 5 minutes to take a penalty is way too long.” pic.twitter.com/FuQfrpFaxi
— Madrid Zone (@theMadridZone) July 9, 2026
While there could have been many contributing factors in Mbappe’s miss, the delay was certainly one, as Mbappe argued with the referee in the aftermath. It broke Mbappé’s streak of 15 successful penalties since 2020 for club and country.
The goal could’ve taken Mbappé to eight goals at the World Cup and tied him with Lionel Messi on top of the scoring charts. He was tied with Haaland, who has seven goals in his debut World Cup so far. However, proving the missed penalty was just a blip, Kylian Mbappé continued grinding on.
He scored an outrageous curling goal on the hour mark after receiving an offload from Desire Doué. Just six minutes later, he set up Ousamane Dembele, who made it 2-0 and sealed a semifinal spot for France. France will meet the winner of the Spain-Belgium clash in the semis.
Erling Haaland is keeping a close eye on the action between his training sessions. The Manchester City forward will be in action against England during Norway’s quarterfinal. Should Norway advance, they will meet Messi’s Argentina in the semifinals.
If both Norway and France go all the way, Mbappe and Haaland will meet each other in the finals, but they will certainly not be discussing penalties and the wait times.
