adminManchester United icon Gary Neville has shared his verdict on England’s World Cup quarter-final clash with Norway, which takes place in the early hours of Monday morning.
The Three Lions secured their place in the last eight with a gritty 3-2 win over Mexico, playing much of the game with ten men in what many have called their strongest display of the tournament so far.
Next up is a stern test against Thomas Tuchel’s Norway, who themselves are riding high after an impressive 2-1 victory over Brazil. Given that form, Neville expects a “very tough” battle—but he still believes England are the “favourites” to come out on top.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Neville highlighted the threat of Erling Haaland: “It’s tough to stop Haaland. He can go quiet in games, he doesn’t have many touches, but you always know his explosiveness is there. He was devastating against Brazil—those two goals were absolute class, classic Haaland.
The first was a brilliant header where he slipped in front of Gabriel, and the second was pure control and a powerful finish past one of the world’s best goalkeepers.
Stopping him for 90 minutes—or even 120 if it goes to extra time—is a huge challenge. But we should be favourites, and I don’t think that’s us getting carried away.”
He added: “I do think we should beat Norway, but it’s going to be really tough. I also thought Martin Ødegaard played well against Brazil.”
Neville also turned his attention to England’s performance against Mexico, singling out Jude Bellingham for special praise. The midfielder, he said, has “absolutely smashed through the ceiling” during this World Cup.
“Above and beyond everything else is Jude Bellingham,” Neville continued. “Going into the tournament, I said it wasn’t a choice between him and Morgan Rogers—Rogers is a great player, but Bellingham has to start.
I also said that Harry Kane was our only world-class player, with Declan Rice and Jude maybe edging towards that level. But now, if I didn’t think he was world-class before, I certainly do. He’s smashed through that ceiling.
“What we saw last night was a complete performance—absolutely incredible. And we’ve seen that over the past few weeks, from the very first game when he walked out in that tunnel against Croatia. Over these five matches, he has carried England.
Alongside Harry Kane he’s been outstanding, but Bellingham has been on another level entirely. I can’t speak highly enough of him—his performance last night was perfect.”
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