England vs Norway key battles: Where World Cup quarter-final showdown will be won and lost | OneFootball

Three Lions must find a way to stop Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard

England are set to take on Norway for a place in the World Cup 2026 semi-finals.

After an emotional 3-2 last-16 victory over Mexico at the Estadio Azteca, widely considered as arguably England’s greatest World Cup win ever on foreign soil, the Three Lions must now prepare to take on Erling Haaland and Co in Miami.

Norway are themselves riding high after a 2-1 win over Brazil and will prove stubborn opposition for England as they look to reach just their second World Cup semi-final this century.

With Haaland closely following Lionel Messi in the race for the Golden Boot and a squad stacked full of Premier League pedigree, Norway will fancy their chances of causing another upset.

Stale Solbakken’s side are in uncharted territory, having never reached the World Cup quarter-finals before, but they will take great confidence from the way they dispatched Brazil with two expert second-half goals from Haaland.

England, meanwhile, underlined their title credentials by beating co-hosts Mexico despite being down to 10 men for the majority of the second half.

Here, Standard Sport assesses three battles that could decide this weekend’s quarter-final showdown.

England defence must dominate Haaland

For all that was brilliant about England’s win over Mexico, Ezri Konsa and Marc Guehi were ultimately left grateful to Jordan Pickford for keeping veteran forward Raul Jimenez at bay.

Pickford produced by far his best performance of the tournament, denying Jimenez’s stooped header early on with the score at 0-0 before tipping over from the former Fulham forward on the stroke of half-time.

England’s resilience, with Dan Burn and Djed Spence excelling off the bench, eventually got them over the line, but it is fair to say that they struggled to get to grips with Jimenez in and around the box.

Familiar rivals: Marc Guehi and Erling Haaland are club team-mates with Manchester City

Getty Images

The 35-year-old should have scored when dragging a shot wide of the post in the first half, and he pulled free to head down for Cesar Montes, who would have scored if not for a timely Jude Bellingham clearance.

England will get punished if they allow Haaland, who dominated Arsenal and Brazil centre-back Gabriel in the previous round, the same freedom they allowed Jimenez.

The Manchester City forward had just 10 touches, fewer than any other player, in the first half against Brazil.

But as his City team-mate John Stones will know all too well, it only takes one lapse in concentration for Haaland to pounce.

England face more right-back trouble

Jarell Quansah’s suspension, which the FA are considering appealing, means that for now, there will be yet more change at right-back for England.

It has been a problem position for Thomas Tuchel’s side, though the England boss could be boosted by the return to fitness of Reece James.

James faces a battle to be ready against Norway, having missed the last three games with a hamstring injury.

The uncertainty over who will start at right-back has been the main talking point regarding team selection, and as it stands, Spence looks the most likely option to come into the team against Norway if James cannot start.

Right-back dilemma: Djed Spence could be needed to start at a problem position for England

Getty

England must consider the threat from Norwegian winger Antonio Nusa, and Tuchel will be wary of the tough time Spence was given by DR Congo goalscorer Brian Cipenga.

Much of the criticism levelled at Spence for his performance against DR Congo felt harsh, yet it is also true that he was routinely doubled up on out wide as England struggled with DR Congo’s front-footedness.

A player of Nusa’s quality would relish the sort of space Cipenga was afforded up against Spence, and England must make sure to give whoever plays at right-back adequate support.

Fight for midfield control

What was notable about Norway’s win over Brazil was the languid pace at which it was played.

The searing heat undoubtedly had an effect, as it is likely to this weekend, but ultimately, Norway were not able to take advantage of Brazil’s ageing midfield pivot in quite the same way as Japan had in the round of 32.

Norway are technically astute, with Arsenal’s Martin Odegaard pulling the strings, but they are also guilty of being laboured in possession, as evidenced by the split-second indecision from Odegaard that led to Patrick Berg’s fourth-minute goal being ruled offside.

Midfield magician: England cannot allow Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard to pull the strings

Getty

Norway had the quality to play through Brazil’s midfield but struggled to add pace and rhythm to their game before netting twice late on.

England, on the other hand, shocked Mexico with their intensity and directness to take a quickfire two-goal lead after 38 minutes.

Elliot Anderson, Declan Rice and Bellingham all played their parts as England scored twice in the space of 98 seconds, and Tuchel will look to the midfield trio to smother Norway in the middle of the park.

Take control of the midfield, and England will shut off the supply line to Haaland, while also giving themselves a platform from which to put pressure on Norway’s defence.