On the night of July 11 to 12, one of the most intriguing matches of the 2026 World Cup will take place at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. The national teams of Norway and England will battle for a spot in the tournament's semifinals. The opening whistle will be blown by French referee Clément Turpin at exactly 00:00 Kyiv time.
Record-breaking breakthrough for the "Vikings"
For the Norwegian national team, this match will be historic. Reaching the quarterfinals is an absolute record in the history of the national squad. Previously, the "Vikings" had reached the round of 16 twice (in 1938 and 1998), but lost to Italy in extra time on both occasions. In 1994, the team failed to advance past the group stage.
The current triumph of Ståle Solbakken's charges was made possible by a major sensation on July 5, when Norway knocked out Carlo Ancelotti's Brazil with a score of 2:1. The main hero of that match was Erling Haaland. The forward scored a brace and set a unique record: he became the first European since Christian Vieri (1998) to score in each of the first four matches of a World Cup.
Furthermore, Haaland maintains an incredible scoring streak for the national team, having scored 26 goals in 14 consecutive official games. In that match against the Brazilians, Neymar converted a penalty, equalling Pelé's scoring record and becoming the second player in his country's history to score in four consecutive World Cups (2014, 2018, 2022, and 2026).
England: Experience and squad issues
The England national team reached the quarterfinals after an extremely difficult and dramatic victory over Mexico with a score of 3:2. The English played the latter part of the match with a man down: on the 64th minute, Bayer Leverkusen defender Kwanza received a straight red card.
Now, Thomas Tuchel's team will play in the World Cup quarterfinals for the eleventh time in its history. The previous experience at the 2022 World Cup ended with elimination at this stage against France (1:2, the only goal scored by Harry Kane). In total, England has reached the semifinals only three times — in 1966, 1990, and 2018.
The English coaching staff approaches the match in Miami with significant squad issues. Three players will definitely not take to the field: the suspended Kwanza, defender Livramento, and midfielder Henderson. The latter suffered a silly but serious injury at the Azteca stadium: while celebrating the victory over the Mexicans, he unsuccessfully jumped over advertising boards, suffered a fracture of the radius of his hand, and will miss the rest of the tournament.
History of the rivalry
Throughout the history of football tournaments, Norway and England have met 12 times. The statistical advantage lies with the English, who have celebrated victory 7 times. The Norwegians have won twice, and there have been three draws.
The last head-to-head meeting between the national teams took place in September 2014 in a friendly match, where the English won with a minimal score (1:0). It should be noted that these national teams will play against each other for the first time in history at a World Cup.
Where to watch the match
The winner of this pair will face the victor of the Argentina – Switzerland duel in the semifinals. In Ukraine, the live broadcast of the match will be available on the MEGOGO media service. The show is scheduled on the "MEGOGO Football First" TV channel (in the "Football" subsection of the "Sports" section), which also broadcasts on the digital terrestrial network T2.
