Norway’s confidence was flowing after the Nordic side found the net 14 times in their last three matches, and it took Alexander Sorloth just two minutes to rattle Israel’s crossbar when he met Martin Odegaard’s corner with a powerful header.
Israel carried their own attacking threat, though, having scored at least once in five consecutive World Cup qualifiers, and Manor Solomon nearly extended that streak with a curling effort that went just wide.
But it was Norway who ended the half on top, taking the lead through David Moller Wolfe, who received Odegaard’s pass inside the area and poked his first international goal past Daniel Peretz.
There was a sense of deja vu after half-time as Sorloth thumped the crossbar minutes after the restart with a rising strike.
However, Israel started to threaten once more, pulling themselves level in fortunate circumstances after Mohammad Abu Fani’s shot took a huge deflection off Patrick Berg and flew into the net.
Norway didn’t trail for long as Sorloth finally got his third goal in as many international matches, rising inside the six-yard area to head in from Odegaard’s corner.
With 25 minutes remaining, Kristoffer Ajer struck a decisive third when he was left unmarked inside the Israel area to control and fire into the net from Sander Berge’s cross.
There was time for Erling Haaland to add a fourth in a dominant Norway performance with a close-range finish in the latter stages, and even though Dor Turgeman netted a stoppage-time consolation, it wasn’t enough to knock Stale Solbakken’s side from top spot in Group I.
Despite showing glimpses of a comeback in the second half, Ran Ben Shimon’s side ultimately struggled to contain Norway, cursing the Sky Blue and Whites’ two-match winning run to come to a crashing halt.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Martin Odegaard (Norway)
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