Nobody saw this coming. Norway arrived at the World Cup with little expectation and were expected to make up the numbers. Instead, they have emerged as one of the tournament’s defining stories and now stand one win away from a semifinal as they prepare to face England in Miami.
Norwegian Air and British Airways are trading jokes on Instagram. American Airlines has jumped into the comments. A Norwegian airline is even trying to get fans on a plane named after a Norse figure. Mexico fans have started copying Norway’s celebration as if they have adopted a second team. It is everywhere.
England is used to this stage. This is their eleventh World Cup quarterfinal. Only Brazil and Germany have reached more. Norway has never been here before. Under coach Stale Solbakken, they came through a tough group led by favourites France. Then they beat Cote d’Ivoire. Then they stunned five-time champions Brazil. Now they are in the last eight for the first time ever.
A lot of Norway’s players face English teams twice a year in the Premier League, so this is far from a mystery matchup. Tuchel’s England had a rough ride through most of the tournament, but Sunday’s hard-fought win over hosts Mexico in Mexico City is being hailed as one of England’s best performances in years. There is a real belief building that this could be the year England wins a second star for the shirt.
Tuchel has built on the team spirit that Gareth Southgate fostered, and the celebrations after the Mexico game showed a squad that believes it can go all the way. Still, nobody in the England camp is taking Norway lightly. Erling Haaland can change a game in a single moment, and everybody knows it. Norway also presses hard and moves the ball well. People have compared them to Kasper Hjulmand’s Denmark team from a few years back, except Norway has a genuine superstar up front. This one should be close.
THE VIKING ROW
Every time Norway wins, the players and fans celebrate the same way. It starts with a blast from a traditional Norse horn. Then a drumbeat kicks in, and everyone leans forward and pulls back their arms like they are rowing a longship, shouting the Norwegian word for row, “ro,” over and over.
It began with a few thousand Norwegian fans in the stands. Now it has spread far beyond the stadium, even reaching places like Times Square in New York. Rival fans have picked it up too. It has become the signature moment of this World Cup, the kind of celebration that makes strangers want to join in, even if they have no connection to Norway at all.
It took Norway 28 years to get back to a World Cup after missing out again and again. Now that they are here, they are making sure everyone remembers it, one Viking row at a time.
TACTICAL BATTLE
England’s attack has more than one weapon. Haaland is a nightmare on his own, but England has two stars pulling the strings. Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham were involved in all three goals against Mexico, and Kane had already scored twice against DR Congo before that. Norway has been vulnerable to counterattacks. Mexico exploited that weakness, and although Brazil did not punish it, Kane and Bellingham are unlikely to be so forgiving.
Neither team plays it safe. England has kept only two clean sheets all tournament and looks shakier defensively than it did under Southgate, which is a real concern with Haaland waiting for a chance. Norway has not been much tighter at the back. Every one of their matches has seen both teams score, with 21 goals in total so far. Do not expect a boring, low-scoring match here.
Martin Odegaard has also quietly been one of the busiest players at the tournament. He ranks near the very top of the field in high-speed running, sprinting and total distance covered. That work rate matches how involved he is in the attack, popping up all over the pitch to link play.
HAALAND vs KANE
If Norway believes it has a chance, it is because of one man. Erling Haaland scored twice late on to beat Brazil 2-1 in the Round of 16, sending Norway into its first-ever World Cup quarterfinal. That took his tally to seven goals in his first World Cup. He has been the most talked-about player of the summer, not only because of his goals but also because of how relaxed and funny he seems off the pitch.
Saturday puts him up against another world-class number nine in Harry Kane. For all the attention on Norway’s Viking row, it is Haaland’s finishing that has carried them this far. England knows the stakes. Stop him, and the game likely tilts their way. Give him even half a yard of space, and Norway’s “dark horse” tag will stop sounding like a joke very quickly.
The meeting also pits two of the tournament’s leading scorers against each other. Kane trails Haaland by one goal in the Golden Boot race, with the Norway striker on seven. Both are chasing leaders Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe, who have scored eight goals each.
Kane, who won the World Cup Golden Boot in 2018, refused to be drawn into comparisons with Haaland when asked who the better striker is ahead of Saturday’s quarterfinal.
“Impossible one for me to answer. First of all, I think we’re completely different players almost. I know we’re both senior strikers, but we play almost two different positions,” Kane told reporters on Friday.
“I see myself as a different player, although I score the same goals. I like to maybe touch the ball a little bit more, but I can also play as maybe the out-and-out nine.”
The 32-year-old was full of praise for his rival, however.
“Erling has been incredible. Physically, he’s a machine, he’s a beast. His finishing is at the highest level and obviously his goal scoring record speaks for itself,” Kane added.
“I respect him a lot as a player, as a fellow professional. Obviously, hoping he has a quiet day tomorrow, but I think his overall performances over these recent years speak for themselves. He’s a fantastic player.”
Despite the individual accolades within reach, Kane insists team success remains his priority.
“My main goal is to win the World Cup with England, not the Golden Boot,” he said. “But I also know I’m the goalscorer. I’m the number nine. So if I’m scoring goals, it’s obviously going to help the team.”
WHAT THEY SAID
Haaland has played down Norway’s chances throughout the week. “There’s some clear favorites out there,” he said, naming England as one of them, and told reporters to “put every single pressure on the English lads.” England captain Harry Kane, meanwhile, insisted his focus remains on team success rather than individual honours. “My main goal is to win the World Cup with England, not the Golden Boot,” he said.
Solbakken struck a similarly cautious tone in his pre-match press conference. “If we are not at our very, very best, England will go through,” he said. The Norway coach also acknowledged the importance of the two star strikers. “It’s Norway vs. England. But it’s not a secret that Harry Kane is the No. 1 matchwinner for England and Erling is the No. 1 matchwinner for us,” Solbakken said.
England’s Nico O’Reilly, just 21, pointed to the squad’s big-match experience as a source of calm. “We have a lot of players who have been in situations like these,” he told reporters on Friday, crediting the older players for helping the group “stay calm.”
Tuchel has not tried to reinvent England’s identity. “I try to build a platform for them to show their qualities,” he said, pointing to “mentality, togetherness, competitiveness, having the fight, and the hunger” as things his players already bring. Asked about the road ahead, with France and Spain waiting on the other side of the bracket, he said simply, “It gets harder and harder because competition gets better and better.”
NORWAY vs ENGLAND: HEAD-TO-HEAD
Norway and England have never met at a World Cup before, but they have played 12 times overall. England has won seven of those games, Norway has won two, and three ended in draws. Their most recent meeting was a 2014 friendly, which England won 1-0 at Wembley.
NORWAY vs ENGLAND: TEAM NEWS
England will be without defender Jarell Quansah, who was sent off against Mexico and is now suspended for two matches. That rules him out of this quarterfinal and any potential semifinal. Centre-back Marc Guehi has a slight hamstring strain and was set to be assessed on Friday, while Reece James remains a doubt with a hamstring problem of his own. Midfielder Jordan Henderson is out for the rest of the tournament with a broken wrist.
England (4-2-3-1): Pickford; Konsa, Stones, Guehi, O’Reilly; Rice, Anderson; Saka, Bellingham, Gordon; Kane
Norway has no fresh injury concerns heading into Saturday.
Norway (4-3-3): Nyland; Ryerson, Ajer, Heggem, Moller Wolfe; Berg, Berge, Odegaard; Sorloth, Haaland, Nusa
NORWAY vs ENGLAND: TV AND STREAMING GUIDE
Kick-off: 2:30 AM IST (July 12)
Venue: Hard Rock Stadium, Miami
Live-streaming (India): ZEE5 app and website
TV telecast (India): DD Sports and Unite8 Sports
FIFA World Cup | FIFA World Cup Schedule | FIFA World Cup Points Table | Football News
– Ends
