Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.
Nico O’Reilly claimed Erling Haaland is playing “mind games” ahead of England’s World Cup quarter-final showdown with Norway.
Norway take on England in Miami on Saturday.
However, Norway have failed to win any of their six World Cup games against fellow European opposition (D2 L4), losing both of their prior knockout round matches against such sides, 2-1 in 1938 and 1-0 in 1998, both against Italy.
England have won seven of their previous 12 meetings with Norway, and Haaland, who has plundered seven goals at this World Cup, claimed on Thursday that the Three Lions are “clear favourites” to reach the semi-finals.
Haaland’s Manchester City club-mate O’Reilly, however, is sure Norway’s star man is just trying to get under England’s skin.
“Yeah, mind games,” said O’Reilly when asked about Haaland’s comments.
“But they’re a good team as well. They’ve showed that throughout the whole tournament.
“It’s not just certain players that we need to worry about.
“They’re good collectively, and it’s going to be a good game.”
5 – Erling Haaland is aiming to become the first European player to score in his first five World Cup apps since Gerd Müller in 1970.
Ahead of two world class strikers meeting tomorrow, check out some of our insights in the video below.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) July 10, 2026
Haaland has netted four match-winning goals at this edition of the tournament, with only Poland’s Grzegorz Lato in 1974 and Italy’s Salvatore Schillaci in 1990 managing more in a single campaign in the competition’s history (both five).
The 25-year-old has scored in each of his last 14 competitive outings for Norway (27 goals in total during this period), finding the back of the net in all four of his appearances at the World Cup so far.
The last player to score in each of his first five games at the tournament was Colombia’s James Rodríguez in 2014, while the last European player to do so was Germany’s Gerd Muller in 1970.
“Erling’s Erling. We all know what he’s like. He can score goals,” O’Reilly added.
“He’s dangerous in the box, and he’s a real threat. But they need to get him the ball in first. A lot goes into it.
“I think keeping Erling quiet gives us a real chance to win the game.
“We know the threat he can cause, an unbelievable striker, world class and he’s showed that throughout the tournament, scoring every game he’s played in.”
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