Today's game between Norway and England should be among the better matchups of the tournament.Norway has one of the most popular players in the entire World Cup.It also seems like the entire world has adopted Norway as one of their favorite team.
The row is going wild, people are chanting Skol, and I don't know about you, but I've seen about a million Erling Haaland clips on TikTok lately.Haaland is one of the more entertaining players in the sport, and it seems like he genuinely has fun playing and interacting with the crowd.
He is still in the Golden Boot conversation and has established himself as one of the best goal scorers in the world.ENGLAND STUNS MEXICO 3-2 IN INSTANT WORLD CUP CLASSIC, HANDS TEAM FIRST WORLD CUP LOSS AT ESTADIO AZTECAErling Haaland of Norway celebrates with teammates after scoring his team's first goal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 16 match between Brazil and Norway at New York New Jersey Stadium on July 5, 2026 in East Rutherford, New Jersey.(Al Bello/Getty Images)If you need evidence of that, go back and watch him play in his last game against Brazil.
Haaland basically played dead for a while and then got into position and headed in a goal.Then he booted a goal through a defender's legs and into the back of the net.
It was remarkable to watch.Before that, they took down the Ivory Coast 2-1.Their lone loss of the World Cup came in a game they didn't play anyone significant - namely, Haaland - against France.
Their first two games weren't against overly difficult opponents, but they still took advantage of the matchups and won 3-2 over Senegal and 4-1 over Iraq.England has had a much more difficult path to get to this game.They have built a strong team, mostly led by Harry Kane, who has done his fair share of goal scoring in this World Cup.
Kane has six goals, and Jordan Bellingham isn't all that far behind at four.The 1-2 punch is something that Norway does not have.
England hasn't looked elite in most of the games, but i...