Rob DawsonJul 10, 2026, 02:25 AM ET
BOSTON -- Had things been different, Erling Haaland could have been lining up for England against Norway in Miami on Saturday rather than the other way around.
Born in Leeds during a summer that saw his father, Alfie, move from Leeds United to Manchester City, Haaland has dual nationality. In recent years, the English FA has made a push to make contact early with any player eligible for their system. In Haaland's case, they were beaten to the punch by Norway.
"When he broke into first-team football he was pretty much already in the Norwegian youth system," former England boss Gareth Southgate said in 2020. "We recruit early, but we wouldn't have been into him when he was still in Yorkshire, that's for sure.
"We're always trying to monitor those cases, but I think in that instance he was tied up pretty early by Norway and I think also, with players like him, they're quite clear where they want to play as well. He feels that allegiance to the country that he's playing for now and you're always very respectful of that."
When Alfie Haaland's career in England ended in 2003, the family moved back to Norway. Haaland junior was enrolled in Bryne's youth system not long afterward, and by 2015 he was playing for Norway's Under-15s.
In truth, England never really stood a chance.
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"I lived in England for 3½ or four years," Haaland said in an interview last season. "I lived in Norway for such a long time so it was natural for me to choose Norway.
"Maybe if my father had played longer in England or whatever, maybe I would be English -- I don't know. But I'm Norwegian and I'm proud of it."
England's loss is Norway's gain. Haaland scored 16 goals in UEFA qualifying to power Norway to their first World Cup in 28 years. Now here, he has got seven in four games -- including one in Norway's first-ever World Cup knockout win over Ivory Coast and another two against Brazil as they reached the quarterfinals for the first time in their history.
There's an argument that whatever else Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé or Harry Kane achieve at this World Cup, Haaland is still the player of the tournament. While Messi, Mbappé and Kane are surrounded by other stars, Haaland is performing as part of a national team ranked 31st in the world by FIFA before the World Cup began. Of the eight teams to reach the quarters, Norway are ranked lowest.
Of the four stars with six or more goals in the quarterfinals, Haaland touches the ball less than anyone both per match (25.0 times, compared with 25.4 for Kane, 49.2 for Mbappé prior to Thursday's France vs. Morocco game and 67.0 for Messi), but his real impact is seen in how few touches he has per goal. Haaland has averaged just 14.3 touches for each goal. Kane (21.2), Mbappé (35.1) and Messi (41.9) all enjoy more of the ball before finding the back of the net.
The big Norwegian has also outperformed his xG (4.4) for his seven goals -- Kane 3.4 xG with six goals, Messi 5.1 with eight goals, Mbappe 4.1 with seven -- as much as his peers, with his seven coming from just 12 total shots on target, according to ESPN Global Sports Research.
It's not just the on-field magic, either, but how much the Man City and Norway forward has been ubiquitous in this tournament. Google even added a special animation to its search page. If you look up Haaland, at the bottom of the results you'll see a small group do the Viking Row, gliding rhythmically across the screen to the sound of a drumbeat.
Haaland's ability to score out of almost nothing is what sets him apart and what makes Norway so dangerous, as Brazil discovered.
Norway have benefited from having Haaland at his prolific best, but there were times last season when it looked as if he might arrive in North America this summer under-cooked. He was left out of Manchester City's FA Cup tie against Newcastle in March, with Pep Guardiola deciding it would be better for his star striker to train by himself in Manchester.
During the March international break, Norway decided the 25-year-old needed extra time off, and rather than playing in two games against Netherlands and Switzerland, he was asked to appear in only one. Head coach Stale Solbakken said it was "special treatment," and it came not long after Haaland went a month without a goal in all competitions.
City have long had concerns that it takes him longer than normal to recover his sharpness after injuries and niggles because of his body shape and mass.
After a trademark goal in a hat trick against Liverpool in April, assistant boss Pep Lijnders said afterward that it was the type of finish -- running across his defender to head into the net -- that showed Haaland was rediscovering his edge. It was almost a carbon copy of his first against Brazil: a wandering walk followed by a dart of movement and a powerful header into the net.
Haaland played 52 club games during a grueling campaign last season and the fact that he has been able to reach the World Cup at such a high level owes much to the way he looks after himself.
Haaland learned the basics when he left home to sign for Molde as a 16-year-old. His family helped him settle in for two days before leaving him to it. He takes such a keen interest in his nutrition that he personally chooses his own steak, milk and honey from a farm shop close to Manchester.
He has an ice bath, sauna and red light therapy chamber at his home to aid his recovery after matches. For the three hours before bed in the evenings, he wears glasses designed to filter out blue light to ensure he sleeps well.
Each day starts with a coffee with added collagen, a protein-rich breakfast and a walk. One video clip from Norway's World Cup camp showed some of Haaland's teammates joking about how strict he is with his diet and lifestyle.
"They complain when I do all this," Haaland bit back. "But when I score the goals then they zip it up."
It's what Haaland does best. In three seasons in England, he has scored 162 goals in 198 in games. For Norway, it's 62 in just 54 caps. At this World Cup, he's averaging close to a goal every 14 touches. He has been criticized at times for not involving himself enough in games, but his goal record -- 379 goals in 456 senior games for club and country -- speaks for itself.
"The main thing he's good at is in the box he's frightening," said Manchester United defender Harry Maguire. "He doesn't get involved much in the game. I think he tries to make defenders feel comfortable. If you switch off, he gets a yard on you."
Ilkay Gündogan, who played with Haaland during City's treble-winning season in 2022-23, says Haaland has every attribute a striker could want.
Those closest to Haaland also say he has noticeably matured over the last two years, particularly after becoming a father and being asked by Guardiola last summer to be part of City's leadership group with Bernardo Silva, Rodri and Rúben Dias.
"He was the missing piece for us," Gündogan said about Haaland's move from Borussia Dortmund in 2022. "We were already a really good team, but to go for the Champions League he was the missing piece.
"Combining his physical strength with his pace, finishing and technical ability as well, he was a great solution for us up front. He's improved since then and maybe he's the best striker in the world right now. He's so difficult to defend against."
So far at this World Cup, no defense has been able to stop him. Against Brazil, he came up against his great Premier League rival in Arsenal's Gabriel Magalhães and still came out on top. Next up is England and a meeting with City teammates Marc Guéhi, John Stones and Nico O'Reilly. Having faced Haaland in training every day, they will know exactly what challenge awaits.
They might wish he was wearing England white Saturday rather than Norway red, but Haaland wouldn't have it any other way.
Source: https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/49316632/erling-haaland-norway-world-cup-manchester-city-england-striker-analysis-lionel-messi