Erling Haaland, a striker for Norway, stated that England is under the most pressure ahead of Saturday's quarterfinal matchup in Miami and insisted that Norway's chances of winning the World Cup remain "really low." Haaland, who has scored seven goals in five appearances to fire Norway into the last eight for the first time, said Thomas Tuchel's side should embrace their status as one of the tournament favourites.
"Really low, still," Haaland said, when asked to rate Norway's chances of a historic trophy win.
"I believe that England is one of the clear favorites out there. He laughed and said, "I think all of you [reporters] should put every pressure on the English lads." The Manchester City man, who was born in Leeds, added: "It's a special game, definitely. I think for me it's super special, because I play in England and I was born in England, and you also play against teammates and everything.
"It's going to be nice and funny game." He responded, "I think everyone should stay humble," when asked if England fans should "stay humble" in response to a remark the forward made in a Premier League match against Arsenal in September 2024. Because it is England, "they should be confident of progressing definitely." However, when asked if the Three Lions are under all the pressure, he succinctly stated, "Yeah, definitely." Haaland's latest comments are consistent with the relaxed approach he adopted earlier in the tournament.
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Before Norway's final group game against France, which saw Haaland benched among nine changes as Les Bleus won 4-1, he said he "didn't care too much" about the outcome.
"We're through, we managed to get through, which is incredible," Haaland said at the time.
"So I couldn't care too much about that game now. They (France) are probably going to defeat us and probably win the tournament as a whole. Norway then went on to produce the biggest result in their history, defeating Brazil in the round of 16 after overcoming Ivory Coast in the previous round to continue their remarkable run.
Haaland scored in both matches, including a brace against the five-time champions.
"For us Norwegians, playing Brazil was kind of crazy. And to win against Brazil, and then go and play England in the quarterfinals in the World Cup, in the USA is quite special," Haaland said on Thursday.
"And think about it, if you watch the scenes in Norway, this is not what Norway is used to being like, so it's really special." Norway and England will meet in Miami on Saturday. In the semifinal, either Argentina or Switzerland will play the
winner.
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