Norway manager Stale Solbakken has installed England as favourites to reach the semi-finals of the 2026 World Cup, telling BBC Sport that Thomas Tuchel’s side “have the depth, the experience and the front-runners to go all the way” ahead of their quarter-final meeting between the two nations. The endorsement is a notable one: Solbakken’s Norway, spearheaded by Erling Haaland, arrive in the last eight having scored 11 goals in five matches, yet their coach was unequivocal about where the pressure sits.
“England are favourites, not us,” Solbakken said. “When you have won your group, kept clean sheets and can bring on players who start for the biggest clubs in Europe, you are the team everyone measures themselves against. We respect that, but we do not fear it.”
Why Solbakken sees England as the benchmark
The Norway boss pointed to England’s route through the tournament as evidence. Tuchel’s team topped their group with three wins, conceding only twice, and dispatched DR Congo in the last 16 without appearing to move out of second gear. Harry Kane, the tournament’s joint-leading scorer, has struck four times, while the emergence of Anthony Gordon and the midfield control offered by Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham have given England a balance that eluded previous generations.
Solbakken singled out England’s squad depth as the decisive factor. “You look at the players they leave on the bench and it is a starting eleven for most nations at this World Cup,” he said. “In a knockout game, when legs get tired after 70 minutes, that is where matches are decided. England can change a game without losing quality. Very few teams here can do that.”
His assessment carries weight given his track record. Solbakken has built a Norway side that finally converted individual brilliance into collective results, ending a 28-year absence from a major tournament’s latter stages. But he was careful to separate admiration from resignation, insisting his team’s counter-attacking pace and Haaland’s finishing give them “one chance in every game that can beat anybody.”
What history tells us
England’s record against Norway offers Tuchel encouragement. The Three Lions have never lost a competitive fixture to the Scandinavians, a run that stretches across World Cup qualifiers and friendlies dating back decades. Norway’s most celebrated result over England — the 2-1 win in Oslo in 1993 that prompted Graham Taylor’s infamous touchline meltdown — came in qualifying, not a tournament knockout.
For England, the wider historical burden is familiar. A nation that has reached only one World Cup final, in 1966, has repeatedly stumbled at the quarter-final stage, losing at that hurdle in 2002, 2006 and, on penalties, in 1990 and 1998 before the semi-final run of 2018. Reaching the last four in 2026 would represent back-to-back deep tournament runs for the first time since the 1960s and would validate the appointment of Tuchel, whose remit was explicitly to deliver knockout-stage results rather than qualifying dominance.
What it means going forward
The quarter-final represents a genuine crossroads for both nations. Victory would carry England into a semi-final and, on paper, one step from ending 60 years of hurt. Defeat would reframe Tuchel’s tenure as another chapter of near-misses and reopen questions about England’s ability to translate resources into trophies.
For Norway, the equation is simpler but no less significant. Consider what is at stake:
- A first World Cup semi-final in the nation’s history, having never previously progressed beyond the last 16.
- Vindication for a generation built around Haaland and Martin Odegaard, long tipped to deliver on the biggest stage.
- Confirmation of Solbakken’s methods after years of qualifying heartbreak.
Solbakken’s willingness to hand England the favourites’ tag may prove shrewd psychology as much as honest analysis, shifting the expectation squarely onto Tuchel’s players. “Pressure is a privilege, but it is still pressure,” he said. “We will be the team with nothing to lose, and those teams are dangerous.”
Whether that framing unsettles England or simply reflects the balance of the tie, the message from the Norway camp is clear: they arrive as underdogs by design, content to let England shoulder the weight of a nation’s expectation. Kick-off will reveal whether Solbakken’s respectful assessment was accurate — or a carefully laid trap.
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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