Erling Haaland had to be held back by his Man City team-mate Gianluigi Donnarumma after a spat with Gianluca Mancini during Norway's World Cup qualifier against Italy.

Haaland led Norway to an impressive 4-1 victory over the Azzurri at the San Siro, helping his side secure a flawless qualification to the World Cup for the first time in 28 years.

The Norwegians came into the tie atop their World Cup qualifying group, with Italy requiring an extraordinary win by nine goals to deny them a place in next summer's tournament. 

Haaland and his team-mates booked their ticket to North America in stylish fashion despite going a goal down, with a brace from the Man City forward, and goals from Antonio Nusa and Jorgen Strand Larsen earning a dominant victory.

Donnarumma and his defence had kept Norway's frontline at bay in a tight first 45 minutes. 

Frustrations boiled over shortly before half time when Haaland and Roma defender Mancini exchanged some heated words, prompting the 6ft 5in Italy stopper to intervene.

The spat seemed to only serve as motivation for the City striker, who scored two second half goals, taking his total for the qualifiers to 16 in just eight games.

Speaking to Norwegian media post-match, Haaland admitted the confrontation with Mancini had helped to 'fire him up'.

'At 1-1 he [Gianluca Mancini] started grabbing my buttocks, and I thought, "What are you doing?"

'So I fired myself up a bit and said to him, "Thanks a lot for the motivation, let’s f*****g have it" 

'Then I scored two goals, we win 4-1, so that’s great, thanks to him. 

Haaland's first goal was an unstoppable strike into the roof of the net, after he had latched onto an Oscar Bobb pass. 

His second, less than a minute later, was a close range finish that silenced the San Siro and left Donnarumma stunned.

Wolves striker Strand Larsen added Norway's fourth in stoppage time to further add to Italy's woes.

For Haaland, who is the top scorer for this iteration of the World Cup Qualifiers across all continents, he will follow in his father's Alf Inge's footsteps of leading Norway out at a World Cup.

Italy will be forced to participate in the playoffs for a third successive World Cup campaign, as the four-time winners bid to reach the finals for the first time since 2014. 

The Azzurri were beaten by Sweden in the play-offs for the 2018 World Cup, before being stunned by North Macedonia at home when seeking to qualify for the 2022 tournament.