England’s quest to end 60 years of World Cup pain comes up against Norway’s scoring machine Erling Haaland in a Miami showdown for a place in the semi-finals on Sunday morning AEST.
After overcoming high altitude and a fervent home crowd in Mexico City to progress to the last eight in an all-time World Cup classic, an England side boasting the in-form Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham are favourites to reach the semis in south Florida.
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However, the Three Lions’ defensive deficiencies will be severely tested by Haaland, who put Brazil to the sword in the last 16 and has seven goals in his first four World Cup appearances.
And making matters worse for England, midfielder Declan Rice has reportedly been hit by an illness scare ahead of the quarter-final clash, missing two consecutive days of training due to sickness.
FA officials have isolated him from the main group in an attempt to contain what could be a potential outbreak.
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England are in their third consecutive World Cup quarter-final, but needed their own momentous moment to get there.
Thomas Tuchel’s men survived a second-half onslaught when down to 10 men in Mexico City for a 3-2 win that will go down as arguably England’s greatest World Cup win on foreign soil.
Although their long wait for major tournament glory persists, this generation of England players have come as close as any since 1966 to end that drought.
They have lost in the last two finals of the European Championship and also reached a semi-final and quarter-final in the last two World Cups.
“We’ve been here a few times,” said England winger Bukayo Saka.
“But the best team on the day is going to be the team thatwins, so we’re aware of that and that’s where our focus is.”
Haaland, who was born in England and plays his club football for Manchester City, insisted there was no pressure on Norway.
“I think there’s some clear favourites out there, England’s one of them,” he told reporters.
“I think all of you should put every single pressure on the English lads.”
In their first World Cup for 28 years, the nation of just over five million people have far exceeded expectations.
Even before setting off for the United States, a team photo of the squad dressed up as Vikings in front of longships went viral.
The theme has persisted with each victory celebrated by their fans performing a Viking row, from the stands of the United States to Times Square in New York, to the streets of Oslo.
Haaland was the man to beat the drum to conduct that row after his brilliant late double sent Brazil home.
That made history as Norway reached the quarter-finals for the first time.
“Playing against Brazil was kind of crazy for us Norwegians and to win against Brazil and then go and play England in the quarter-finals in the World Cup in the USA is quite special,” added Haaland.
“I think if you watch the scenes back in Norway, this is not normal for Norway to be, so it’s super special.”
‘UNDERDOG’: BELGIUM EYES MASSIVE WC UPSET
Coach Rudi Garcia said “everyone” expects his Belgium team to be eliminated by Spain in Friday’s World Cup quarter-final, but backed his side to pull off a famous victory.
European champions Spain enter the match in Los Angeles as strong favourites, having not conceded a goal all tournament.
Belgium have had a more testing time of it, only narrowly topping their group after two draws with Egypt and Iran, and requiring a late comeback to dispatch Senegal.
But at a press conference Thursday, Garcia appeared to relish being dubbed the “underdog”.
“Everyone is already talking about us going home. But we think that we can do it,” said the coach.
“We think we can pull it off, and we’re going to do everything we can to get to the semis.” Belgium did find their feet in Monday’s round-of-16 clash, thrashing the United States 4-1 to end the hopes of the World Cup co-hosts.
Garcia pointed out that Belgium are among the tournament’s top scorers, behind only France and Argentina with 13 goals. The Belgians’ 107 shots are second only to France, who have played a game more.
Asked if he was concerned a predominantly American crowd in Los Angeles could be hostile as a result of Belgium’s victory over the US, Garcia said it was the least of his concerns.
“We just beat the US, obviously, and again at a stadium where everyone was against us. So I don’t think the conditions will be any more difficult tomorrow,” said the coach.
He added: “It’s not the fans that score the goals. We’re going to focus on what we can do. We’ve got enough on our plate with the Spanish squad that is a wonderful footballing team.
“And even if we’re the underdog for tomorrow, we’re going to do everything we can to give them a run for their money.”
Belgium’s veteran striker Romelu Lukaku echoed his manager’s words, telling journalists that “if you manage to get this far, then you’re not going to play a game just to go home.”
“I think we also have the necessary talent. Tomorrow we need to play the perfect game,” said Lukaku.