Haaland scored two goals in as many minutes as Norway cemented their return to a World Cup for the first time in 28 years this week. However, his performance was overshadowed by an incident with Mancini, the Italy defender who was tasked with marking him.
Italy keeper Donnarumma, Haaland's City team-mate, was forced to restrain him as Haaland claimed that Mancini was touching his backside at various stages of the game in what is a bizarre claim.
“Mancini was always marking me, he was touching my butt a lot,” Haaland told local broadcasters in Norway.
“At one point, I got tired and yelled at him: ‘Oh, what are you doing?’, but then I said ‘Thank you so much for the motivation, let’s f****ng have it’. Then I scored two more.”
Speaking on qualifying for next year’s competition in the US, Canada and Mexico, Haaland said he is glad his side are often underrated and hard to predict.
"It's probably the sickest result. The fact that we come here and win 4-1 is absolutely sick, and it shows that we are a bit unpredictable. It's pretty good for everyone to know."
Norway's qualification means Haaland will follow in the footsteps of his father, Alf Inge, who lined up for his country at their last World Cup appearance in 1998. Haaland has now found the back of the net in 11 consecutive World Cup qualifiers dating back to 2021 and will lead his side next year in one of the biggest honours of his career.