When Holland scored a hat-trick, Israel scored two goals against itself and the match went to Gaza.

 

When Holland scored a hat-trick, Israel scored two goals against itself and the match went to Gaza.

 

It was October 11, 2025, and the place was Oslo, the capital of Norway. The evening had not yet fully fallen, but the atmosphere of the city had already changed.

Thousands of feet were moving in the same direction on the roads leading to the U-Level Stadium, but not all of them had football flags in their hands.

Someone was holding a Palestinian flag, someone was wearing a Palestinian national team jersey, someone was holding a red card, and someone was holding a small placard that read 'Game Over Israel'.

Burning torches, chanting slogans, waving rows of Palestinian flags and banners in favor of Gaza, this was not the scene before a typical football match.

A heavy police presence was deployed near the stadium, but the protest was peaceful. The protesters demanded that they oppose Israel's participation in the World Cup qualifying matches due to the ongoing war in Gaza.

Some protesters even remained outside the stadium after the match started.

On the other hand, there were about twenty-three thousand spectators inside the stadium. Due to security concerns, many seats were left empty, especially those areas that were close to Israeli fans.

Before the match, the Israeli national anthem began to play, and the entire stadium began to boo loudly. The spectators raised the Palestinian flag. A large banner appeared in the stands, which read 'Let the children live.' Several fans also raised red cards in protest.

The atmosphere was already unusual when the match started, but a few moments later another scene emerged, when a man wearing a 'Free Gaza' T-shirt entered the field and the game had to be stopped for a short time.

When the game resumed, the focus was on one name and that was Erling Haaland.

The start was not good for them though. The Israeli goalkeeper saved their penalty, and they were denied a second penalty kick. It looked like this might not be Holland's day.

But then the match turned. In the 18th minute, a dangerous Norwegian move saw Israeli forward Anan Khalili's ball go into his own net.

Just nine minutes later, the Netherlands scored their first goal in spectacular fashion. Just a minute later, the Israeli goalkeeper's clearance hit his own defender Aidan Nachmiash and went back into the Israeli net. And two such goals were scored by Israel against themselves.

In the second half, the stage was once again in Holland's name. In the 63rd minute, he scored his second goal with a header, which was also the historic milestone of his 50th international goal for the Norwegian national team.

Just nine minutes later, another move in almost the same style was made, and the Netherlands once again completed their hat-trick by putting the football in the net.

Thus, Norway defeated Israel 5-0.

Three of those five goals were scored by Erling Haaland, while two were scored by Israel against their own team.

The Norwegian fans in the stadium were singing happily, but another topic was constantly being discussed along with the football that night.

The proceeds from the ticket sales for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying match between Norway and Israel 

After the match, the Norwegian Football Federation announced that the proceeds from the match, plus additional funds raised by the Norwegian Football Federation, would amount to 1.5 million Norwegian kroner, which is providing humanitarian aid in Gaza.