Why Erling Haaland was substituted for Norway against England in World Cup quarter-final defeat | OneFootball

Norway boss took off his top scorer despite needing a goal in the second period of extra-time

Norway manager Stale Solbakken has said he no choice but to substitute Erling Haaland during extra-time against England.

To the surprise of many, Haaland did not reappear for the second period of extra-time as Norway’s maiden World Cup quarter-final ended in defeat at the Miami Stadium on Saturday night.

Having gone into game with seven World Cup 2026 goals to his name, Haaland was expected to lead the Norway onslaught in their attempt, at least, to force a penalty shootout.

However, the Manchester City striker was replaced during half-time of extra-time, with Crystal Palace’s Jorgen Strand Larsen taking his place and going on to have very little impact in the last 15 minutes.

Speaking after the game, Solbakken allayed fears that Haaland had sustained a knock and explained that the 25-year-old was “finished” after using up all of his energy during his 105 minutes in the Miami heat.

"It was not tough to take Erling Haaland off, I should have done it ten minutes earlier as he was finished,” Solbakken told reporters.

"He's had a great World Cup, scoring seven goals but he used up all of his energy."

Erling Haaland was powerless to help Norway in the second period of extra-time against England

AFP/Getty

Haaland had a couple of chances to draw level with Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi in the World Cup 2026 Golden Boot race, but had two rather weak headers comfortably saved by Jordan Pickford.

Meanwhile, it was his push on Elliot Anderson that cost Norway the chance to retake the lead in the 55th minute as Torbjorn Heggem’s header was disallowed after VAR had advised referee Clement Turpin to review the incident.

Discussing the loss to England, who progressed thanks to Jude Bellingham's brace, Norway captain Martin Odegaard said: "It's difficult. I feel that we were so close. We did what we could, maybe we were in a low block in the first half but they didn't do anything and we got ahead.

"Then we conceded two easy goals and didn't get much help from the referee. The margins went against us and we had a bit of bad luck.

"But it's been fantastic, it's been a fairytale. We can be proud of ourselves. The whole world is talking about us, a quarter-final in the World Cup is a huge achievement. Now we have a taste of it."