England's quarter-final with Norway is less about the scoreline than the job Thomas Tuchel has in front of him. Erling Haaland has scored 7 goals in this tournament, and Norway do not ask him to do it all on his own. They switch from a 4-3-3 in possession to a 4-5-1 when defending, which makes the first challenge as much about shape as it is about marking.

Haaland's box threat

The scout view on Haaland is blunt. Mirror Football’s secret scout said he “will fancy getting the better of Ezri Konsa in a straight physical duel”, adding: “If you get too tight he rolls you or spins down the side. If you stand off he turns and attacks the space.” That is the issue England have to solve. He has 7 goals in 4 appearances, and his 8.35 average rating shows this has not been a one-off finishing burst.

England also face a team carrying momentum. Norway are 19th in the FIFA rankings, compared with England in 4th, and they have won 4 of their last 5 World Cup matches. They knocked Brazil out already, which is enough to warn anyone off treating this as a routine quarter-final.

England's set-piece answer

The other route is aerial power, and the same scout pointed to Dan Burn as a possible answer on corners, saying: “Big Dan could go man to man on corners against Haaland who is just like the tank.” Burn is not a neat fix, but this is probably the most direct one available if England want a body who can meet Haaland in the air rather than chase him across the box.

That still leaves the wider problem of Norway's defensive reset. Their 4-5-1 block is built to protect the middle and force a lot of decisions in wide areas, then spring back into the game once they win the ball. Martin Ødegaard, Sander Berge and the rest give them enough control to keep the match from becoming a straight track race.

Stale Solbakken has already shown he is happy to change the wide players at half-time, with Norway bringing on Oscar Bobb and Andreas Schjelderup for Alexander Sorloth and Antonio Nusa. Thomas Tuchel does not need to match that move for move, but he does need a plan that survives Haaland in open play, on corners and on the second ball. The Norway vs England tie is set up around that one problem.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →