Which England defender can stop Erling Haaland in 2026 FIFA World Cup quarter-final against Norway? Opta stats reveal all

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The moment it was confirmed that England would meet Norway in the World Cup quarter-finals, thoughts immediately turned to Erling Haaland - and how to stop the striker, who has seven goals in four games at the tournament.

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Haaland netted a superb brace to help his country beat Brazil in the last 16, and reach the last eight for the first time.

He scored a late winner in the last 32 against Cote d'Ivoire, and twice against Iraq and Senegal in the group stage.

Remarkably, Haaland, 25, is just one goal behind Lionel Messi, and level with Kylian Mbappe in the Golden Boot race, despite being rested for Norway's final group match against France.

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The salient question, then, is how do England stop a striker who simply does not stop scoring? We have had a closer look at the numbers, with the help of Opta.

How do England defenders shape up to Haaland?

Four of England's centre-backs have played against Haaland in the Premier League in recent years: Marc Guehi, Ezri Konsa, Dan Burn and Trevoh Chalobah.

Burn, who was praised for his defensive cameo in the 3-2 win over Mexico at the Azteca, has the most appearances against the Manchester City forward.

The towering Newcastle United centre-back has played six matches against Haaland, and, impressively, only allowed him to score once (although he has registered three assists).

Still, in those six matches against Burn, Haaland has been on the winning side four times, drawing the other two.

There is perhaps a strong argument for Thomas Tuchel to start Burn, then, particularly after he headed and blocked everything that came his way in Mexico City.

The 34-year-old is capable of matching Haaland physically, which Brazil and Arsenal defender Gabriel struggled to do in the last 16.

"It is one of them where we're going to have to be top level all over the pitch and put in probably a lot better performance than we did against Mexico to get through, but it's something that we're prepared for," said Burn.

"It'll be different conditions, we'll not have the altitude, but we'll have the heat, and you know with Erling he only needs one touch in the box to score, so everyone's going to have to be on it."

It remains to be seen if Tuchel is willing to put Burn in his starting XI, though.

If not, Guehi and Konsa are likely to be partnered again in defence (unless England's shortage of right-backs means Konsa is required there).

Although City team-mates now, Guehi's previous record against Haaland does not make for encouraging reading for those of an England persuasion.

He has faced the Norway striker four times, and conceded seven goals, losing three games and drawing one.

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Haaland had 17 shots across those four matches, scoring at a rate of 1.8 goals per game.

More encouragingly, the striker only won one of his six duels against Guehi, as opposed to nine of 15 duels against Burn.

Konsa, meanwhile, has been part of a defensive unit that has effectively nullified Haaland in the past.

The Aston Villa centre-back has only allowed Haaland to score once against him in five Premier League meetings, restricting him to an xG per 90 minutes of 0.4, and just 4.2 touches in the box per 90.

Haaland has only won one of his five matches against Konsa's Villa, too, finding himself on the losing side on three occasions.

Those numbers bode well for England if Konsa can perform at his best in Miami.

Erling Haaland Premier League	v Guehi	v Konsa	v Burn	v Chalobah
Games	4	5	6	5
Minutes	353	405	537	376
W	3	1	4	2
D	1	1	2	3
L	0	3	0	0
Goals	7	1	1	2
Assists	0	1	3	1
Shots	17	10	21	21
xG	4.3	2	2.4	3.1
Chances Created	0	2	7	5
Touches	83	85	183	102
Touches in Opp Box	28	19	46	30
Goals per 90	1.8	0.2	0.2	0.5
Assists per 90	0	0.2	0.5	0.2
Shots per 90	4.3	2.2	3.5	5
xG per 90	1.1	0.4	0.4	0.7
Chances Created per 90	0	0.4	1.2	1.2
Touches per 90	21.2	18.9	30.7	24.4
Touches in Opp Box per 90	7.1	4.2	7.7	7.2

Chelsea defender Chalobah has also attempted to stop Haaland in the Premier League, conceding two goals to the City striker in five matches.

The 27-year-old has yet to make an appearance at the World Cup, though, having been called up following Tino Livramento's injury, so it seems unlikely he will be involved in the quarter-final.

Erling Haaland Premier League	vs Guehi	vs Konsa	vs Burn	vs Chalobah
Games Played	4	5	6	5
Duels	6	6	15	6
Duels Won	1	2	9	4
Aerial Duels	3	4	10	4
Aerial Duels Won	1	1	5	3
Fouls Conceded	3	0	0	1
Fouls Won	0	1	3	0

One player who might be, though, is John Stones, who of course played with Haaland for several years at City.

The two are no longer team-mates after Stones left the club at the end of the season, but there will be plenty of mutual respect and familiarity.

Stones will know Haaland's game inside out, so could that give him an advantage? Nico O'Reilly, England's first-choice left-back, is also well-acquainted with Haaland, having played with him at City.

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Whether any of these factors will be significant come Saturday's quarter-final remains to be seen. If Haaland gets a chance, he is likely to bury it regardless of the defender he is up against.

But restricting him to very few opportunities is key, and England, it seems, have defenders capable of that.

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