Having survived their sternest test to date by eliminating co-hosts Mexico, the Three Lions face a Norway side spearheaded by Erling Haaland, the relentless striker.
Morgan Rogers raised the question on everyone’s lips – and one which captures the conundrum England will have to solve if they are to reach the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup 2026 “Has anyone ever stopped Erling Haaland?” He answered his own question by saying: “I’m not sure they have but we are going to have to try.”
Rogers is already familiar with Haaland’s game, the two having squared off a number of times in the Premier League. The Norwegian has been the leading scorer in three of the last four seasons in England’s top flight. And after bagging 27 goals in 35 league outings during the recently concluded club season, the striker has carried his breathtaking exploits into his debut World Cup campaign, having found the net seven times in four appearances (he was rested for Norway’s final group-stage fixture against France).
Rogers’ Aston Villa cohort had the measure of Haaland’s Manchester City last season: the Villans did the double over their star-studded counterparts, with Ezri Konsa, who has become a regular starter in the England backline, standing firm to keep the Nordic giant off the scoresheet at Villa Park: “We’ve done well in those games against City, but every game is different and he can just turn it on with a click of his fingers. We’ve just got to be so focused, so aware of the runs he makes and where he is in the box.”
That is something that Brazil’s Gabriel Magalhaes knows only too well, having emerged as one of Haaland’s key adversaries in what has become a hotly anticipated duel whenever Manchester City and Arsenal lock horns.
The towering centre-half came off second best when the pair went toe-to-toe in the Round of 16, as evidenced in the game’s opening goal: Haaland wandered nonchalantly into the box as play unfolded down the Norwegian left flank, before suddenly springing into action and out-manoeuvering his marker to head home and put his side ahead.
England full-back Nico O’Reilly shares a dressing room with Haaland at Manchester City.
His partnership with the Norwegian talisman was a consistently lethal combination for the Cityzens last season. “Erling is Erling. We all know what he’s like. He can score goals. He’s dangerous in the box and he’s a real threat,” the 21-year-old said from England’s base camp in Kansas City in the build-up to the quarter-final contest. “He’s an unbelievable striker, world-class. He’s shown that throughout the tournament, scoring in every game he’s played in.”
Man-marking Haaland is a tough ask for any centre-back, but Rogers believes that nullifying the colossal predator hinges on much more than a single standout display: “It takes a whole team effort to stop someone like that, to stop their supply line, and we’ve got to look at what they do as a team, how they create chances. We’re going to have to maybe try and stop how they play and work on those things and stop how the balls go into him and how he gets his chances.”
O’Reilly explained: “He’s dangerous in the box and a real threat. But yes, they need to get him the ball there first. A lot goes into it. They’re a good team as well. They’ve shown that throughout the whole tournament. It’s not just certain players that we need to worry about. They’re a good collective.”
Rogers added: “They have one of the best strikers in the world and when he’s on the pitch, anything can happen. I think he’s such an unbelievable player, the things he does, the numbers he puts up. You can never be surprised if Erling scores two goals and they win a game. He’s done it how many times over the course of his career. He keeps doing it. You’re just in awe of how good he is and the level he’s at.”
When they take to the pitch at Miami Stadium today, England will be fully aware of the problem they need to solve. The question, as Rogers himself put it, is whether that problem can be solved at all.