Haaland says pressure is on England

Erling Haaland

Norway striker Erling Haaland says all the pressure is on England leading into their World Cup quarter-final meeting on Saturday - and with a smile, called on the media to put as much pressure on Thomas Tuchel’s side as possible.

Norway had not competed at a World Cup since 1998, but have reached the final eight for the first time after finishing second in Group I before beating Ivory Coast and Brazil in the knockout stage.

England have reached at least the quarter-finals in the past three men’s World Cups, but have not made the final since winning the competition in 1966.

When asked is all the pressure on England, Manchester City striker Haaland said: “Yes, definitely. I think there’s some clear favourites out there, England’s one of them.”

Speaking to journalists, he added: “I think all of you should put every single [bit of] pressure on the English lads.

“Yeah, they [England fans] should be confident of progressing, definitely. It’s England.”

“I didn’t expect it. To be honest, to be in the quarter-finals with Norway in the World Cup is quite surprising even for me,” he added.

“Playing against Brazil was kind of crazy for us Norwegians and to win against Brazil and then go and play England in the quarter-finals in the World Cup in the USA is quite special.

“It’s difficult to take everything in because you need to kind of just play the game like it’s a training session.

“I think if you watch the scenes back in Norway, this is not normal for Norway to be, so it’s super special.” 

(BBC sport)