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England will need to devise an effective plan to contain the Norwegian striker when they face Norway in Saturday evening’s World Cup quarter-final.

Thomas Tuchel’s top priority for the quarter-final clash is clear: find a strategy to stop Erling Haaland.

The Norwegian forward is currently level with Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe at the top of the tournament’s goal chart, having scored seven goals in just four matches.

Haaland’s double against Brazil saw him outplay Gabriel and Marquinhos — two of the most highly rated centre-backs at this World Cup.

So, can England succeed where every other team has failed so far, and keep Haaland from scoring?

To explore that question, we looked back at Transfermarkt’s data to analyse Haaland’s past record against individual opponents — particularly England defenders likely to feature in Tuchel’s line-up.

For context, Marquinhos and Gabriel had already conceded a combined nine goals in ten previous encounters with Haaland before their World Cup meeting, suggesting it wasn’t entirely surprising that he found a way to score against Brazil again.

Marc Guehi has actually crossed paths with Haaland much earlier than many might recall. They met at youth international level, when England’s U16 and U17 sides defeated Norway both times without Haaland managing to score.

However, since moving into senior football, Guehi’s record against the Norwegian striker has been far from favourable. Haaland netted a hat-trick for Manchester City against Crystal Palace in their first Premier League meeting in 2022 and has added four more goals in the following four encounters.

That gives Haaland a total of seven goals in seven appearances against Guehi. Yet, there is one shining moment for the English defender — a clean sheet in Palace’s 1-0 triumph over City in the 2025 FA Cup final, where Guehi played a crucial role.

There is some good news for England, though. Haaland has faced Ezri Konsa five times in Premier League matches between Manchester City and Aston Villa — scoring only once, in their first meeting in 2022. Interestingly, City have lost all three of their most recent encounters with both Haaland and Konsa on the field.

Opponent

Played

Haaland scored

W

D

L

7

7

3

1

3

5

1

1

1

3

8

1

6

2

0

2

0

0

0

2

5

2

2

3

0

Dan Burn also has a commendable record against Haaland. The Norwegian has scored only once in matches where both Burn and Haaland were on the pitch — that lone goal came in their first encounter back in 2022 between Newcastle United and Manchester City.

However, there’s a notable caveat: while Haaland hasn’t been prolific against Burn individually, his overall team record against Newcastle stands strong, with six wins, two draws, and zero defeats.

Haaland has also faced John Stones during his Borussia Dortmund days, when the two met in the 2021 Champions League quarter-finals. Haaland failed to score in either leg, with Manchester City winning both matches 2-1.

Lastly, Haaland has come up against Trevoh Chalobah as well, managing just two goals in their meetings. While that’s not insignificant, it suggests that England’s defenders may have a blueprint for at least limiting his impact — if not completely silencing him — in their upcoming World Cup showdown.