Erling Haaland’s Leeds United affection highlighted as England await Norway in World Cup quarter-final | OneFootball

Leeds-born Erling Haaland’s affection for Leeds United is again in focus as Norway face England in tonight’s World Cup quarter-final in Miami.

Thomas Tuchel’s Three Lions kick off at 10pm, and Haaland has admitted Norway’s run to the last eight has surprised them. According to yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk, he has long made clear his regard for the English game and for Leeds.

Eligible for England after birth in Leeds in July 2000 during Alf-Inge’s spell with the Whites, he later said at RB Salzburg that his dream was to win the Premier League with Leeds and eclipse his father.

He now has 54 caps and 62 goals for Norway, and sits third in the World Cup Golden Boot race with seven, one behind Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe.

He has scored three times against Leeds for Manchester City, and after a brace in City’s 3-1 win at Elland Road in 2022 he said: “It was planned. I didn't feel like cheering. I have respect for Leeds, where I was born,” he told VG.

He later appeared to perform a Leeds salute after scoring against Galatasaray in January’s Champions League, a gesture many supporters linked to the killings of Christopher Loftus and Kevin Speight in Istanbul. In May, collecting his FA Cup winners’ medal, he answered a “Leeds, Leeds, Leeds” chant with “til we die”.

“Erling Haaland is a Leeds fan, yeah. He is. He is a massive Leeds fan as well,” said Kalvin Phillips in 2022 on BBC Radio 5 Live.

Source: yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk