Norway meet England in a World Cup quarter final for the first time on 11 July at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, with a semi final place at stake. Norway have never reached this stage before, creeping through Group I as runners-up behind France before knocking out Côte d'Ivoire with a late winner and Brazil on the back of an Erling Haaland brace. England topped their group, came through Congo DR in a comeback and then beat co-hosts Mexico 3-2 while reduced to ten men. England want their first semi final since 2018, Norway, who have never beaten a European side at a World Cup, would be making history just by getting through.
Ståle Solbakken has built Norway around defensive compactness and he has publicly played down any supposed Premier League familiarity advantage England might hold. Thomas Tuchel has shaped England to absorb pressure and hurt teams in transition, as Mexico found when losing 3-2 to a ten-man side and the two coaches have no prior head to head record at senior level to draw on here.
Møller Wolfe is back in full training after being substituted against Brazil and illness concerns across the squad have cleared, leaving Norway as close to full strength as they have been all tournament. Oscar Bobb and Andreas Schjelderup are still competing for the remaining attacking spot in a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1, with Ørjan Nyland expected in goal behind a back four of Julian Ryerson, Kristoffer Ajer, Leo Skiri Heggem and Wolfe, Sander Berge and Patrick Berg anchoring midfield and Martin Ødegaard as the creative hub behind Haaland and Alexander Sørloth.
England's situation is considerably messier. Jarell Quansah is suspended after his red card against Mexico and Jordan Henderson is out with a wrist injury, while Reece James is a doubt having missed training with a hamstring problem. Marc Guehi and Declan Rice are both carrying knocks but are expected to be fit, with Djed Spence likely to cover at right back if James doesn't make it. Tuchel's probable XI puts Jordan Pickford behind a back four of Spence or James, Ezri Konsa or John Stones, Guehi and a fourth defender, with Rice and Elliot Anderson in midfield and Bukayo Saka, Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon and Harry Kane in attack.
Norway have gone W W L W W through the tournament, scoring 12 and conceding nine, an unusually leaky record for a side this deep in a competition. England's W D W W W run includes three straight wins each with at least two goals, with the 3-2 victory over Mexico while reduced to ten men the clearest illustration of what Tuchel has built.
Norway play a structured 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1, looking to transition quickly through Ødegaard's creativity and the movement of Haaland and Sørloth, one as the target and one running in behind. The nine goals conceded tell you the back line can be got at and England have been built precisely to exploit that, as the Mexico win showed. Norway's nine conceded and England's counter attacking winners in that match both point to transitions as where this game gets decided and both sides have shown set piece vulnerability at this tournament.
Haaland against Stones, Guehi and Konsa is the duel everyone will be watching, while Rice and Ødegaard, Arsenal teammates who know each other's habits better than most opposing midfielders ever do, could make their battle more cautious than creative. With nine Norwegian players based in the Premier League, the whole fixture has a peculiar domestic quality to it.
England lead the all time series 7-2 and Norway haven't beaten them since the 1990s, with the most recent meeting a 1-0 England win in a 2014 Wembley friendly settled by a Wayne Rooney penalty. Norway haven't scored in four straight meetings against England, which makes the head to head record as one-sided as the surface results suggest.
England have played in three major tournament knockout rounds since 2018, Norway are in their first ever World Cup quarter final, having won twice from losing positions to get here. Both teams have goals in them and unconvincing back lines to match and England carry the greater weight of knockout experience, though their record against European sides at this stage of tournaments has been mixed at best.
The prediction here is 3-3. Twelve goals scored and nine conceded for Norway, England haven't kept a clean sheet in four straight matches. Haaland and Kane are both chasing the Golden Boot and neither looks like stopping, while a controlled, low scoring game seems unlikely given the respective back lines on show. England's injury concerns open up space for Norwegian transitions, Norway's exposure at the back invites English counter attacks. This ends in a shootout.
Ryan Baldi
Football Writer
Ryan Baldi is a professional football writer with years of experience and has been featured by respected outlets such as the BBC, The Guardian, Sky Sports, DAZN, FourFourTwo, ESPN, Yahoo Sport and Football365. He has also written several books including Arsène Who?.
