Norway and England will face each other in a quarter-final match considered the most balanced at the 2026 World Cup. This is a historic milestone for Norway as they participate in the quarter-finals of a major tournament for the first time.
The victory over Brazil in the round of 16 shows that coach Stale Solbakken's team has become a truly formidable opponent.
Norway has only lost one match since the beginning of the tournament. That was the defeat against France in the last round of the group stage, when Solbakken replaced up to 10 positions in the starting lineup to save energy for key players.
The decision to rotate the squad and accept second place in the group then worked when Norway successively overcame Ivory Coast and Brazil to register their names in the quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, England once again participated in the World Cup quarter-finals. Only Brazil and Germany (14 times) have more times reaching this round than the "Three Lions" (11 times). However, England's achievements in the quarter-finals are not really convincing when they have only won 3 in the last 10 matches in this round.
In the past, the two teams have faced each other 12 times. This will be the first time they have met again since the friendly match in September 2014, when England won 1-0.
Notably, Norway has only won 2 out of 12 encounters with the "Three Lions" and has not scored any goals in the last four encounters.
The match between Norway and England takes place at 4:00 AM on July 12 (Vietnam time).
