How Do You Stop Norway and Erling Haaland? England Are About to Find Out.

Norway may have been touted by many as this World Cup’s dark horse, but their impressive progress still feels like they have exceeded expectations. Since finishing second in Group I above Senegal, they have knocked out Ivory Coast and Brazil, scoring 12 goals across five games.

Now they face England, who are tasked with nullifying a strong Norway side spearheaded by star striker Erling Haaland. So what do Norway do best — and what might England boss Thomas Tuchel look to tweak in order to see his side through to the final four of World Cup 2026?

The Haaland–Nyland Dilemma

Norway boast attacking variety, with Ståle Solbakken’s men fluctuating between wanting to hold the ball and being able to attack quickly. This duality starts from the back — specifically from goalkeeper Ørjan Nyland.

From goal-kicks, Nyland’s distribution has been excellent. Norway’s first instinct is to play short, often setting up with a wide back four and the keeper forming a fifth option, with two holding midfielders showing centrally. With so many players deep, Norway frequently have an overload at the back — making progressing up the pitch significantly easier.

When short options are not viable, Nyland’s get-out-of-jail-free card is the 6ft 5in Alexander Sørloth, who Norway play on the right wing as a wide targetman for long diagonal balls. This is something England left-back Nico O’Reilly will need to be alert to — though at 6ft 4in, O’Reilly’s height and frame make this a far more even physical match-up than Norway have faced previously.

How Do You Stop Norway’s Build-Up?

There are a few options — each with their own trade-offs.

Option 1: Man-to-Man Press

The most obvious answer is a man-to-man press across the pitch. This reduces Norway’s numerical advantage at the back and places the physical battle against Sørloth on O’Reilly’s shoulders.

The problem: this tactic leaves someone one-on-one with Haaland in central areas — in space. Most coaches would want a spare man at the back, ideally leaving two defenders around Haaland at all times.

Option 2: Press With Fewer Players

If England leave two defenders around Haaland, they are effectively pressing with one fewer player than Norway have in build-up — and in reality, two fewer, because Nyland gets directly involved. This creates an inherent overload problem.

Option 3: Drop Off and Block Space

Dropping off and blocking space has its own complications. Firstly, it runs counter to the identity Tuchel has built — England present themselves as a front-footed, attacking side. Secondly, Norway, as demonstrated against Brazil, can spend extended periods on the ball — slowing the game, defending on the ball and frustrating opponents.

Martin Ødegaard is central to this. In his all-action role he drops deep, playing short passes that make it difficult for opponents to get close to Norway once they are in possession. It can appear pointless but is an intelligent form of game management.

What Brazil Did — and What England Could Learn

Brazil had some useful ideas when Norway were building from Nyland. One player curved their run to cut off one side of the pitch — often forcing the keeper to his left. Wingers were positioned to press Norway’s full-backs, with two central attackers ready to press the holding midfielder or the free centre-back.

Even when Nyland was forced onto his weaker left side, his left-footed long passing was reliable enough to find Sørloth. Knowing this, it may be worth England forcing Norway into that longer pass on the weaker foot — while being prepared to converge around the ball and win possession the moment it arrives.

England, who normally defend with a front two, will be outnumbered pressing Norway’s three central build-up players — as they were against DR Congo. But if Tuchel pushes a midfielder high — possibly Declan Rice — they might create situations that, although chaotic, give England a better probability of playing on their own terms.

How Do England Stop Haaland?

To stop Haaland, teams can either cut off his supply or deal with the man himself. The second option is, generally, a far tougher ask.

When Norway have the ball high up the pitch, their attack focuses on wide units and rotations — much like Tuchel’s England. Antonio Nusa and Andreas Schjelderup take turns on the left wing and have serviced Haaland well. Space typically opens following long underlapping runs from left-back David Møller Wolfe.

Those runs serve two purposes:

1. If tracked, the run pulls opposition midfielders deeper — opening up space inside for wingers to cut into
2. If untracked, Møller Wolfe arrives in advanced areas himself, with time on the ball

A common method of chance creation is a deep in-swinging cross to the back post. Back-post runs are one of Haaland’s three most common methods of scoring — alongside through balls on the left and cut-backs in front of a retreating defence.

Marc Guéhi, if he starts, may recall that in 2024, while playing against Manchester City for Crystal Palace, Matheus Nunes played a similar cross — before Haaland, peeling off the back of the England defender, headed home. On an individual level, Guéhi and Palace would have benefited from crowding Haaland out — one of the few approaches that has muted his influence.

Pep Guardiola, after a 1-1 draw with West Ham last season in which Haaland was successfully contained, said:

“Do you know how many central defenders were around him today? 200 million. Do you know how many holding midfielders? It is the most difficult position on the planet.”

On that occasion, West Ham used three central defenders and a holding midfielder in close proximity to the Norwegian — at times man-marking him.

Preventing back-post crosses by doubling up in wide areas makes sense — but doing so may leave the on-running full-back unmarked to cross the ball themselves. It is a difficult conundrum — and one reason Tuchel has invested in similar attacking dynamics for England in the form of Anthony Gordon and O’Reilly.

To manage this, it would not be surprising to see a more concerted defensive effort from Bellingham — dropping in to form a midfield five when England are in their defensive block.

How Can England Score?

As much as England will focus on stopping Haaland, one of the best ways of defending is keeping the ball.

Through sustained possession, England will look to pin Norway back before exploiting their own wide units. If the wide midfielder holds position in line with the midfield, opposition full-backs making runs off the back can create clever 2v1 situations with England’s winger against Norway’s full-backs.

Much like Møller Wolfe’s underlapping runs open space for Norway’s wingers, O’Reilly will be looking to do exactly the same thing against them in the other direction.

Pacy wingers pushing the ball past their full-back to the byline — drawing Norway closer to their own goal — has opened up cut-backs for late-arriving attackers, something Gordon has facilitated for England before.

And if Norway do get their foot on the ball, attacking big spaces quickly when possession is turned over is a valuable form of attack. Norway are susceptible to leaving fewer players behind the ball in possession — and although Brazil did not score in open play against them, when they did win the ball back, they created numerous big chances in this counter-attacking fashion.

The likes of Gordon, Bellingham, Rice and Noni Madueke generally enjoy attacking these spaces — and at World Cup 2026, where late goals and transitional football have defined the tournament, England will fancy their chances of doing real damage on the break.

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