The quarterfinals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup wrap up on Saturday with two very enticing matchups. Norway and England begin the day at Miami Stadium while Argentina and Switzerland conclude the day at Kansas City Stadium. These teams will all look to join France and Spain in the semifinals.<\/p>\n
But we’re here to break down the first match of the day. Here is everything you need to know about Saturday’s first quarterfinal match at the World Cup.<\/p>\n
Norway vs. England<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n When Norway and England meet in South Florida on Saturday, the top storyline of the game is obvious. England is led by Harry Kane and Norway is led by Erling Haaland, and there is a good case to be made that both players are the top center forwards of their generation.<\/p>\n Playing in its first major tournament since Euro 2000, Norway has more than lived up to its expectations as a “dark-horse” contender. The club has completely relied on star forward Erling Haaland, and that might be enough to go even further.<\/p>\n Haaland has played four games at this World Cup and has scored seven goals. What should be particularly worrisome for England is that he is getting better as the tournament moves on. Against Brazil, Haaland was contained for the first 79 minutes but then came to life with a stunning display in the later part of the game. With the game scoreless, the Manchester City forward rose into the air to head in the go-ahead goal. Then in the 90th minute, he unleashed a blast from distance which sealed what would become a 2-1 win over the five-time champions.<\/p>\n Norway\u2019s formula is well known. Its competent central midfielders \u2014 Martin \u00d8degaard, Sander Berge and Patrick Berg \u2014 manage possession and try to play the ball wide to wingers. Antonio Nusa has been the main option on the left, but he struggled against Brazil and was replaced at halftime by Andreas Schjelderup, who had two assists. The wingers then look to get the ball centrally into Haaland from out wide, and he is there either with a header or in making a late run into the box.<\/p>\n The toughest decision Norway\u2019s head coach St\u00e5le Solbakken must make with regard to his starting lineup is whether Schjelderup should start after his big performance off the bench. There are also concerns with right Marcus Holmgren Pedersen, who missed the Brazil match due to fatigue. Meanwhile, a minor sickness bug has hit the Norwegian team this week but appears to be under control now.<\/p>\n The other concern for Solbakken is the team\u2019s defense, which must now attempt to contain Kane despite having yet to keep a clean sheet at this World Cup.<\/p>\n England head coach Thomas Tuchel has several significant concerns starting with his central defenders. Jarell Quansah is suspended after his red card against Mexico and will not be there to help deal with Haaland. Marc Gu\u00e9hi, meanwhile, is a concern with a hamstring injury, and, as a club teammate of Haaland, he might have the most knowledge about star forward.<\/p>\n Another issue for Tuchel is the taxing nature of the team\u2019s 3-2 win in Mexico where it was forced to defend most of the second half with 10 men. Combined with the altitude and the intensity of that game, fatigue might be an issue in the Florida heat on Saturday.<\/p>\n But the Three Lions have plenty of positives coming into this game. Jude Bellingham had his best game of the tournament in the 3-2 thrilling win over Mexico in the round of 16. If he plays at that level again, Norway might not have an answer. Meanwhile, Declan Rice will be tasked with winning battles against \u00d8degaard, his Arsenal teammate. Rice is poised to be the toughest midfield battle \u00d8degaard has faced thus far in the tournament.<\/p>\n Then, of course, there is Kane, who has six goals in this tournament. He could also be very important to England when he drops back into the midfield to create plays and get the ball to the wingers.<\/p>\n England should be the favorite in the game simply on depth. But Norway\u2019s top line talent can win games by themselves, so this could be a close one.<\/p>\n Players To Watch<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n Forward \u00b7\u00a0Norway<\/p>\n The Norwegian forward plays his trade in England and is taking full advantage of the spotlight in his first ever major international tournament. He has seven goals and has been impossible for every team, so far, to stop. With England facing suspensions and injuries to its backline, Haaland might have an opening to carry Norway into the semifinal.<\/p>\n Forward \u00b7\u00a0England<\/p>\n England\u2019s central forward has been dominant as well, and he can carry the Three Lions to victories it does not deserve, such as the 2-1 win over DR Congo in the round of 32. But what makes Kane a tough forward to stop is that he can be everywhere. He can drop into the midfield to create, or he can shift out wide and find wingers who cut centrally or midfielders who run into the box. Norway\u2019s defense hasn\u2019t kept a clean sheet at this World Cup and stopping Kane will be its toughest assignment to date.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" POPULAR SEARCHES BROWSE BY The quarterfinals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup wrap up on Saturday with two very enticing matchups. Norway and England begin the day at Miami Stadium while Argentina and Switzerland conclude the day at Kansas City Stadium. These teams will all look to join France and Spain in the semifinals. But […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":6552,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6553"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6553\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}