John Stones fires first warning to Erling Haaland before England play Norway in World Cup quarter-final | OneFootball

England defender is ready to face his former Man City team-mate

John Stones insists England are fired up and ready to knock his former Manchester City team-mate Erling Haaland out of the World Cup.

England set up a quarter-final meeting with Norway in Miami on Saturday after earning one of the most impressive World Cup wins in their history by beating co-hosts Mexico at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City in the round of 16 on Sunday.

The Three Lions played with ten men for the majority of the second half and more than 11 minutes of stoppage time after Jarell Quansah’s sending off, but held on for a famous 3-2 victory at high altitude courtesy of two goals from Jude Bellingham and a Harry Kane penalty.

While Saturday will be Norway’s first World Cup quarter-final in their history, it is the third time England have reached the last eight in as many tournaments.

Leeds-born Haaland is their biggest threat and is tied with Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe on seven goals as frontrunner to win the golden boot at his first World Cup.

Stones was Haaland’s teammate at City until the England centre-back left the club as a free agent at the end of his contract.

“Another incredible player, and we've got a lot of huge, huge respect for them as a team,” Stones said.

“We saw the result [with] them knocking out Brazil, and that's something within its own right, and we will definitely go into the game same as every game.

“I'm sure you've heard me say it many times in the past, but treat everyone with the same respect and know what they've got, especially with Erling, and they've kept some great defensive displays as well.

Erling Haaland has shone on the football’s biggest stage

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England had to defend with their backs to the wall for much of the final 20 minutes of the match plus added time but prevailed at the Azteca, with Stones, Djed Spence and Dan Burn brought on in defence to close the win out.

Stones has insisted that performance “definitely” bodes well in case England need to defend as resolutely again in the quarter-finals and possibly beyond.

“I think we've done it now, and as a player knowing and being through that experience and coming out the other end on the right side of it, it is encouraging, and knowing if we have to go through that, we were set for it,” he said.

“That's a really nice feeling, and I feel like Marc [Guehi], Ezri [Konsa], the guys that have played at the back throughout the tournament, have performed at such a high level.

“We're always pushing each other throughout training to have a standard that we can set for the rest of the team, and whoever has played in whatever position has done so well, and that should give us great confidence for going through to the next stage.”