Saturday’s Fifa World Cup quarter final action comes from Miami where Erling Haaland and Norway take on Harry Kane and England
Norway:
Norway arrive in the quarter finals on the back of their 2-1 win over Brazil in New Jersey on Sunday. The early stages of the game saw Norway have a goal disallowed and Brazil miss a penalty but we had to wait until the 79th minute for the first goal which came from Erling Haaland. As we headed towards injury time Haaland effectively sealed victory with his second goal to put Norway 2-0 up, Brazil did get a penalty which they converted in the 100th minute but the full time whistle sounded shorty afterwards. Haaland now has 7 goals in the tournament so far, at the time of writing that has him level with Messi and Mbappe at the top of the goalscoring charts.
Norway struck late to see off Ivory Coast 2-1 in their Round of 32 clash in Dallas. Nusa put them in front just before half time but the Ivorian’s levelled things up on 74 minutes before Erling Haaland found the winner on 86 minutes.
Norway came through arguably the strongest of the groups as runners up to France. The French finished with the maximum 9 points whilst Norway had 6, Senegal were third with 3 whilst Iraq failed to earn a point and were eliminated.
Norway’s made 10 changes for their final group match against France in Boston including leaving Haaland on the bench and France, who were pretty much full strength, ran out 4-1 winners. Thelo Aasgaard scored Norway’s goal and Jorgen Strand Larsen missed a second half penalty.
Norway made it 2 wins from 2 when they edged out Senegal 3-2 in New Jersey. Marcus Pederson opened the scoring and Haaland made it 2-0. Senegal pulled a goal back but Haaland was on target again to make it 3-1 just before Senegal reduced the arrears again and there was no further scoring.
Haaland also scored twice in a 4-1 win over Iraq in Boston in Norway’s opening game. Leo Ostigard was also on target and an Iraq own goal at the death rounded off the scoring.
England
England took on co-hosts Mexico in the Azteca Stadium in the Round of 16 in the early hours of Monday morning and they held on for a 3-2 win. Jude Bellingham scored twice in 2 minutes towards the end of the first half but Mexico halved the deficit and England led 2-1 at half time. Jarell Quansah was red carded on 54 minutes but England went 3-1 up with aa Harry Kane penalty on the hour mark, his sixth goal of the tournament. Mexico made it 3-2 with their own penalty on 69 minutes and largely set up camp in the England half for the remainder of the game which included around 12 minutes injury time but England held on.
England were given a huge scare by DR Congo before eventually coming through their Round of 32 clash in Atlanta with a 2-1 win. They were a goal down in just 7 minutes and DRC also hit the woodwork. It took England until the 75th minute to draw level through a Harry Kane header and the England skipper then completed the comeback with an excellent strike in the 86th minute.
England topped Group L with 2 wins and 1 draw. Their tally of 7 points was 1 more than runners up Croatia whilst Ghana finished third with 4 points and Panama failed to earn a point or score a goal and were eliminated.
England secured top spot in the group with a 2-0 win over Panama in New Jersey where it took just over an hour to score the first goal through Bellingham and Harry Kane added the second shortly afterwards. In their second match of the tournament England played out a dour 0-0 draw with Ghana in Boston. England took on Croatia in Dallas in their opening game and they came out on top 4-2. Harry Kane scored twice in the first half, the first a penalty but it was 2-2 at half time. Bellingham made it 3-2 early in the second half before Rashford rounded off the scoring.
The Betting (Regulation time unless stated otherwise)
Norway are priced at around 29/10 to win the game with the draw available at 11/4 and England can be backed at around 17/20
A game of 3 goals or more is priced at 15/20 and its 4/6 for both teams to score
The Verdict:
I’m not sure England should be odds on to win this match but the trend of btts and over 2.5 goals in Norway’s games is my main play.
Saka had a much game for England in Mexico and with all the attention on Kane and Haaland he could be a touch under radar in the anytime goalscorer market.
Bets: Both teams to score and over 2.5 total goals? Yes at 12/10 with Lucky Fish
Anytime goalscorer Saka at 31/10 with Lucky Fish
Note, odds are subject to change