Kane and Haaland set for World Cup quarter-final showdown

England will face Norway in the World Cup quarter-finals at Miami Stadium on Saturday, 11 July, with kick-off set for 17:00 in Miami, 22:00 in London and 23:00 in Oslo. The match brings together two of the tournament’s defining forwards, and it also puts Norway in the quarter-finals for the first time in their history while England chase a first World Cup final since 1966.

England reached the last eight with a 3-2 win over co-hosts Mexico, a game shaped by Jude Bellingham’s two goals and Harry Kane’s second-half penalty. That strike took Kane to 11 World Cup goals for England and extended his lead as the country’s all-time men’s record scorer, with England Football listing him on 85 senior international goals in 119 appearances. Norway’s route has been no less significant: Stale Solbakken’s side have already won two knockout matches to get this far.

The Golden Boot race gives the quarter-final an extra edge. BBC Sport’s comparison has Erling Haaland on seven goals at the 2026 World Cup, one more than Kane’s six. FIFA has described Kane as a “goalscorer and creator supreme”, and that distinction captures why this is not just a shootout between finishers but a contrast in how two elite strikers shape a team’s attack.

Kane’s numbers point to a forward who does more than finish moves. A Footy Metrics comparison lists the Bayern Munich striker at 32 and Haaland at 25, with Kane ahead on goals per 90, assists and chances created per 90, while Haaland has more total shots. In practical terms, Kane can drop deeper, connect with runners and help England build through midfield, giving Bellingham and the wide players cleaner routes into the box. Haaland offers the opposite problem for defenders: he stays high, demands immediate service and turns limited touches into high-volume shooting, which is why he remains the classic penalty-box threat.

The club records underline that split. Kane left Tottenham Hotspur for FC Bayern Munich in August 2023 after becoming Spurs’ record scorer with 280 goals in all competitions, and Bayern said he had reached 125 goals in 131 appearances by late February. Haaland joined Manchester City from Borussia Dortmund in July 2022 and signed a new 10-year contract in January 2025 that keeps him at the club until the summer of 2034. Manchester City said he scored 34 goals in 48 games in the 2024-25 season, a reminder that England’s and Norway’s semifinal hopes will again hinge on very different kinds of striker power.