England defenders know Erling Haaland well, but can they stop Norway superstar?
It is tricky and arduous to try to contain Erling Haaland, as Norway’s World Cup opponents so far can attest. The towering, explosive striker is second in the Golden Boot race with seven goals, tied with France’s Kylian Mbappe, just behind Argentina legend and Inter Miami captain Lionel Messi.
And he scored those seven goals in one game fewer than the other players, as he was rested in Norway’s final group stage match.
Haaland has been scoring on a torrid pace for some time, with 16 goals in the World Cup qualifying rounds. He has scored in each of his past 14 competitive games for Norway with 27 goals in those matches.
But, if there is one team that might be able to figure out how to neutralize the prolific Norwegian striker it is England, which plays Norway in the quarterfinals on Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium (5 p.m., FOX, Telemundo).
Haaland plays for Manchester City in the English Premier League and is a teammate of England defenders Nico O’Reilly and Marc Guehi and midfielder Elliot Anderson. Five other regular England starters also play in the EPL and face Haaland week in and week out.
They know his tendencies. They know what makes him one of the most feared forwards in recent history. Even so, they have not always had success against him.
England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford plays for Everton and Haaland has scored seven goals in six games against them.
Haaland scored seven goals in four games he started against Guehi during his time with Crystal Palace, including a hat trick in their first meeting in 2022.
Ezri Konsa’s record against Haaland is better. The Norwegian has scored just once in five games against Konsa’s Aston Villa team. England midfielder John Stones also knows him well, having spent four years alongside Haaland at City and could factor on Saturday with Jordan Henderson out with an arm injury
Aston Villa midfielder Morgan Rogers smiled when asked how to stop Haaland at a press conference Wednesday at England’s team camp in Kansas City.
“Has anyone ever stopped Erling Haaland? I’m not sure they have, but we are going to have to try,” Rogers said. “I think he’s such an unbelievable player, the things he does, the numbers he puts up, you’re just in awe of how good he is and the level he’s at.
“We’re going to have to maybe try and stop how they play and work on those things and stop how the balls go into him and how he gets his chances because he’s so deadly in front of goal. We’ve got to be aware of that. We’ve got to know that.”
Haaland, 25, has won every big prize for his club, including three out of a possible four Premier League Golden Boot awards since he arrived at City from Borussia Dortmund.
Standing 6-5, with broad shoulders and long, flowing golden locks, he looks like the Nordic warrior he is. He has pace, power and precision in front of the goal.
He set the record for most goals in a Premier League season (36) and most goals by a Premier League player in all competitions in one season (52) during his debut season with Manchester City in 2022. He was named UEFA Men’s Player of the Year and finished runner-up in the Ballon d’Or. Haaland ranks as Manchester City’s fourth-highest all-time top goalscorer.
“But also, it’s not just him,” Rogers said.
“They’ve got other good players as well that we play against regularly in the Premier League that we need to be mindful of. They’re a really good team. I think that’s what their biggest super strength is, that as a team, as a unit, they’re so strong.”
England coach Thomas Tuchel will have a difficult decision to make as he settles on a starting lineup for Saturday’s game.
One option could be defender Dan Burn, who is 6-7 and had an impressive appearance off the bench in the dramatic Round-of-16 victory over Mexico. He made six clearances, which tied the team high. Haaland has made 10 appearances for City against Newcastle, eight of those when Burn has started, and scored just once.
Guehi, Konsa, Stones and Burn were in the lineup in the frantic, exhausting late minutes of the win against Mexico. They managed to stave off a dangerous Mexican team that entered the box time and time again.
England has proven resilient throughout this tournament.
The Three Lions fell behind 1-0 early against the Democratic Republic of Congo in the Round of 32 and trailed for nearly 70 minutes before talisman Harry Kane scored two late goals to send England to the Round of 16.
Then came the test of will and endurance at altitude against Mexico in Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. Jude Bellingham scored twice in a two-minute span to give England a 2-0 lead, Mexico rallied, Kane scored the go-ahead goal on a penalty kick and England overcame a Jarell Quansah red card, playing the final 48 minutes a man down.
Haaland and his Norway team present a completely different challenge on Saturday. Six Norwegian starters are 6-4 or taller. And both teams are quite familiar with each other. Five Norwegian starters play in England. Just as the English players know Haaland well, he knows them, too.
“It’s going to be fun [facing Haaland],” Guehi said on the England team’s Lion’s Den show this week. “I know he’ll be up for it, too. It’s going to be a challenge. It’ll be good to see some familiar faces, and we’ll try to do our best and get a win.”
England’s fans, among the most dedicated in the world, packed pubs back home until 5 a.m. to watch the Round of 16 game against Mexico on T.V. As many as 30,000 English fans are expected at Hard Rock Stadium for Saturday’s quarterfinal. Many of those fans are diehard Manchester City and Haaland supporters. But not this weekend.