England vs. Norway quarterfinal clash in Miami features Haaland, Kane, Viking Row
Brace yourselves, South Florida soccer fans. Another high-profile, compelling World Cup match is headed to Hard Rock Stadium this weekend. England and Norway will clash in a quarterfinal at 5 p.m. Saturday and the game features two of the best fan bases and biggest stars in the sport.
Like Scotland’s Tartan Army, which took over South Florida two weeks ago, the Norwegian fans have sparked a worldwide phenomenon thanks to their viral “Viking row” (or “Ro!”) cheer, where large groups of fans sit close together, beat a drum and row back and forth. England, meanwhile, has a long history and passionate fan base that packed pubs until 5 a.m. local time to catch their win over Mexico Sunday.
England captain Harry Kane scored six goals so far this World Cup, including the game-winning penalty kick against Mexico on Sunday. Norwegian sensation Erling Haaland is tied with Argentina’s Lionel Messi and France’s Kylian Mbappe for the Golden Boot lead with seven goals apiece.
Norway reached the quarterfinal with a 2-1 win over Brazil on Sunday and England advanced with a thrilling 3-2 victory over host Mexico after overcoming a weather delay, red card, altitude and a raucous crowd at 80,000-seat Estadio Azteca.
England is ranked No. 4 the FIFA’s international rankings and Norway, playing in its first World Cup since 1998, is ranked 19th. It will be the first quarterfinal appearance for Norway in tournament history.
Haaland, who plays for Manchester City, on Saturday will face many of the players he knows well from the English Premier League. He called the win over five-time World Cup champion Brazil “an insane day.”
“Maybe this will write history in Norway,” Haaland said. “Everyone just needs to enjoy themselves. This is just an insane day. It’s one of the most insane days in Norwegian history. Just enjoy it, embrace it and enjoy the moment.
“We’re very proud of this, and it was certainly a huge game for Norway against Brazil. I think this will inspire many young people, just as I was inspired when I was young.”
After the game, Haaland led the players with a Norwegian row at midfield, banging a drum with a giant smile on his face. Coach Stale Solbakken said the whole country was now doing the same.
“I think all of Norway is now rowing,” Solbakken said. “It is great that this has become one of the images of the World Cup and that our fans back home are having such a good summer.
“This is the greatest night in Norwegian football history. How far we can go, I don’t know. We are in the last eight, so we will see.”
English fans were just as elated, belting out “Wonderwall,” their unofficial anthem, after the final whistle on Sunday. England’s players were exhausted as they addressed the media after they managed to beat Mexico in trying conditions with just 10 men for more than 50 minutes.
“The only thing we were thinking was to show our togetherness, show how strong we can be defensively,” said Ezri Konsa. “I’m sure it was a great game to watch, but for us on the pitch it was a long one, especially with 11 added minutes. But we had to stick together and show our grit. On the next one now.”
Jude Bellingham, who scored England’s first two goals in the span of two minutes, said: “I’ve never been prouder of a group of lads, a squad, a nation. It was a country’s performance. I felt like everything this week was the country behind us. All we talked about is how difficult this match was going to be in an unbelievable atmosphere against a very, very good team. So, to get this win is the best night of my England career, so far.
“We’ll sing songs on the plane until we lose our voices, then rest a few days and on to Norway. We had to deal with the altitude [Sunday], next up’s the heat of Miami. Tough run. But you can’t win a World Cup without having to go through some big hurdles.”
Miami has already hosted several of the most memorable matches of this World Cup with Brazilian and Scottish fans partying at their group stage match, Ronaldo’s Portugal and Colombia facing off in the group finale, and then, the spellbinding Round of 32 match between Lionel Messi and Argentina against tournament darling Cape Verde on Friday.
Tickets for Saturday’s match are available on the secondary market and were starting in the $2,600 range as of Monday afternoon and going as high as $17,000. Cheapest tickets on the official FIFA online marketplace ranged from $2,875 to $18,000.