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Martin Odegaard put in a dominant performance on Tuesday night, providing a hat-trick of assists as Norway eased past Israel.

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The Norwegian national team got off to a strong start to the international break with a win over Moldova last week, with Martin Odegaard playing a role in three of their goals and providing one official assist.

With Italy subsequently joining Norway’s group (following their Nations League defeat to Germany), the Norwegians knew they couldn’t afford to let up in their second game against Israel, and they didn’t.

Once again, Odegaard was the creative star of the team, with eight key passes on the night.

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Odegaard set up Norway’s opening goal in the 39th minute, playing a one-two with Erling Haaland before sliding a pass through to David Moller Wolfe to convert.

Israel equalised through a lucky deflection, but Odegaard was again on hand to set up Alexander Sorloth’s goal in the 59th minute with a corner. It was Odegaard’s second corner assist of the break, and Norway’s third goal stemming from one of his set-pieces.

Odegaard completed his hat-trick of assists later in the game, playing a clever flicked pass to Haaland for a simple finish. The match finished 4-2 to Norway after an injury-time consolation goal.

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Norway have a commanding position in their World Cup qualification group, with six points and a goal difference of seven. No other team in the group has a positive goal difference.

But Italy are yet to play a game, so Norway will be prepared for their lead to come under pressure over the coming breaks.

Only one team from each group will qualify automatically for the World Cup, with the runner-up getting the chance to qualify through the play-offs. If Norway want to make their second major tournament this century, they need more breaks like this one.