A divide in the Norway camp. The old heads versus the kids, a clash of personalities and styles. In between making history, things are becoming a little spicy around the card table at their various hotels across America.
The natural order has been disrupted for the likes of Alexander Sorloth and Kristoffer Ajer. Youngsters Oscar Bobb and David Moller Wolfe have been invited into the club but attack games of “Bondebridge” with more aggression. The sort of aggression that is knocking the established card kings off their stride as wars rage every day at this World Cup. The rows were the talk of their four-star base at Grandover in Greensboro until the end of the group stages and have continued since.
Erling Haaland – or Braut Haaland, to give him the full Norwegian name printed on his shirt – steers clear of the drama. Away from winning matches at this tournament, propelling them to a quarter-final against England in Miami on Saturday, he uses as little brain power as possible.
Instead it’s golf (the striker drives it miles but can be erratic) and he’d seen plenty of their resort’s two 18-hole courses. Or some Super Mario and Pokemon.
If Haaland did involve himself in the cards you’d imagine there would be little need for a Poker face. Opponents might know exactly what hand he held but remain powerless to stop the inevitable outcome. England have exactly that conundrum at the Hard Rock in the last eight of a festival that has showcased the world’s finest marksmen in a way rarely seen.
Manchester City’s perennial top scorer is one of those of course, with seven goals from four appearances so far. One behind Lionel Messi at his first World Cup, carrying the hopes of a nation and delivering dread to defenders.
Erling Haaland is a one-man battering ram who has destroyed defences wherever he has gone – including Brazil’s Arsenal centre back Gabriel (left) in the last 16
Haaland has a mindblowing 62 goals in 54 caps for Norway – so how on earth do you stop him?
‘I was trying to enjoy the win,’ laughed John Stones when Haaland’s name cropped up at the Azteca just over an hour after beating Mexico in such emotional, dramatic circumstances.
England’s back four – back five in the final moments of their last-16 win – will have spent their 48 hours off with Haaland in the back of their minds. It’s 20 international goals for the season. Igor Thiago was the only other man to reach that in the entire Premier League campaign, let alone internationally.
How do you stop this guy? With great difficulty. Stones knows it, Thomas Tuchel knows it. Anybody who watches the Premier League knows it. Crucially: Haaland knows it.
The almost disrespectful way in which Haaland dealt with and bullied old foe Gabriel in heading Norway into a lead against Brazil spoke to somebody at the peak of their powers.
The second goal at the MetLife, meanwhile, spoke to somebody completely unfettered. A goal we do not often see from him – 20 yards out, two touches out of his feet and the other fizzing crisply into the far corner. The nonchalant look in celebration. So comfortable with his game and his form, a scarier image than when he drove around Alderley Edge dressed as the Joker last November.
‘I have to be honest and say it: I thought some things were impossible, but I guess I was wrong,’ Haaland said. ‘We have managed to grow b***s in the way we play. We have simply gained more personality in all players and as a nation.
‘I thought it wasn’t able to peak any more, my career, but I keep showing myself that it’s possible.’
The figurehead, their vice-captain, he is enjoying the relative tactical freedom that Norway are afforded. Not every opponent sits on their own 18-yard box against them, so there is more room for Haaland to run into. As we know, going back to his very first league game in England at West Ham, he gobbles up space.
Marc Guehi has plenty of experience playing against Haaland – both while at Crystal Palace and now in Manchester City training
Ezri Konsa has played against Haaland five times for Aston Villa and lost only once – and that was when the Norwegian went off at half-time and didn’t score
John Stones, one of Haaland’s better friends in the City team, played against him when he was at Borussia Dortmund
There have been all sorts of goals in his seven, even the tap-in against Ivory Coast – the sort of ‘underrated’ strike that Haaland eulogised about on a pre-tournament Visa advert that highlighted his growing superstardom.
Haaland will dominate Tuchel’s pre-match work. Even stopping him doesn’t necessarily mean stopping Norway, because his appreciation of space and bringing others into play has improved under Pep Guardiola and the 25-year-old’s presence allows others, like Bobb and fellow winger Antonio Nusa, to flourish.
Nusa curled in a wonderful opener in the first knockout game, while Bobb’s incision in opening teams up has become more notable as the tournament has progressed. Marc Guehi has talked up how ‘fun’ the match-up with his City team-mate will be and Stones is more attuned to Haaland’s idiosyncrasies than anybody else, having jostled with him in training for the past four years.
His hypnotic movement is nothing new for Stones, familiar with the double move inside the box, darting one way and the other to bounce off defenders. Nothing new yet still so tough to counter. Alternate methods have been used with Haaland. Some pinch him off the ball to knock him off his stride, others chirp away. He can boil over on rare occasions, usually just smiling.
Nobody has gone for the physical battle quite like Dan Burn though. Not even Gabriel at Arsenal. Haaland’s record against Newcastle United is modest at best – one goal in 10 matches. Burn played in eight of those games (losing six and winning none), with the centre half not holding back in his attempts to thwart Haaland.
Burn almost walked off with the striker’s shirt in February and Guardiola often completely changed the way City played up to Haaland when Burn was named on the team-sheet. ‘Erling was man of the match,’ Guardiola said last season after a 2-1 win in which he made a sumptuous assist for Nico O’Reilly. ‘Because he fought with Dan Burn.’
The rawness of Burn’s man-marking is difficult to sustain for 90 minutes and one move in February 2025 showed how difficult it is to keep Haaland quiet. Without touching the ball, he made the first goal of a 4-0 romp. Ederson had possession, Haaland came short towards halfway. Burn followed dutifully, Newcastle’s two centre backs suddenly 30 yards apart. Ederson clipped a ball over the top for Omar Marmoush and that was that.
This is the issue with Haaland. Even when not touching the ball, he’s never not in the game. Lurking, prowling, pulling you from positions. Often two defenders occupy him at club level – occasionally even three markers are deployed – and others profit. Nusa, Sorloth, Martin Odegaard and Bobb are all intelligent enough to engineer themselves as the beneficiaries if they are not watched properly enough in Miami. The role of Elliot Anderson becomes that bit more important, in that case.
Dan Burn battles with Haaland for Newcastle – in their eight meetings Haaland has only scored once, but Burn has lost six of them and won none
Jordan Pickford saves a Haaland penalty while playing for Everton in 2024
England left back Nico O’Reilly will also have a wealth of experience playing against Haaland in City training
The build-up to this will be dominated by how Norway are not a one-man team and that is absolutely correct, yet the off-ball stuff to go with the unadulterated goalscoring record means that England’s gameplan does really boil down to Haaland.
American supporters want him to prevail, having found their next megastar. Haaland’s foray into YouTube over the past 12 months, allowing more of his personality to shine through, has been part of a concerted effort to crack the United States. To become a billboard footballer.
The ‘Haaland Walk’ is going viral on social media, with fans trying to copy his distinctive strut. And all of this marketing is clearly working. Haaland’s charm and performances have pushed him into the American sporting psyche.
‘He is the first striker I’ve ever seen that makes me feel like I’m watching a dominant big man in basketball,’ renowned American sports commentator Bill Simmons offered. ‘There are pieces of all of these big guys that I’ve loved over the years.’
Simmons sees some Shawn Kemp in Haaland’s ability to gobble anything around the six-yard box, akin to the rim – especially aerially. The footwork of Hakeem Olajuwon. And the way he bumps markers around is reminiscent of a young Shaquille O’Neal. ‘Like three or four times again he’ll just bowl over somebody,’ Simmons added.
England’s task is to stop the man boasting the characteristics of three of the NBA’s all-time greats.
