The pressure is all on England ahead of their 2026 World Cup quarterfinal against Norway, who nevertheless have a powerful trump card to play in the shape of striker Erling Haaland, a player many believe could tip Saturday’s game in Miami in their favor.

Although The Three Lions have historically had the better of the Norwegians, as you’d expect given the size of the two nations and their respective standings in world soccer, they also have some incredibly painful memories of facing them.

Prior to the 2026 quarterfinal, the countries have faced each other on 12 occasions, with England coming out on top seven times, Norway twice and three matches ending in draws.

England have dominated friendly meetings

Eight of those games have been friendlies. In those encounters, the first of which took place in 1937, England are unbeaten, with six wins and two draws, and have scored 22 goals to Norway’s two.

Competitive fixtures tell a rather different story, however.

In qualification for the 1982 World Cup, England thrashed Norway 4-0 in September 1980. But the following year, Norway defeated England for the first time ever in Oslo, a game that inspired an iconic rant from Norwegian radio commentator Bjørge Lillelien.

“Maggie Thatcher, can you hear me? Your boys took a hell of a beating!” Lillelien roared, while also reeling off a list of famous English names, including Sir Winston Churchill, Henry Cooper and Lady Diana.

Norway’s famous wins left England with painful memories

England qualified for the 1982 World Cup at Norway’s expense, but the roles were reversed when the teams were drawn together in qualification again for the 1994 tournament in the United States.

In the first meeting, the teams played out a 1-1 draw at Wembley, which kept the Scandinavians’ momentum going after three opening victories. Bizarrely, that was England’s first game of the qualifying campaign.

But after The Three Lions dropped more points against the Netherlands and Poland, they were defeated 2-0 in Oslo, a deeply damaging result that played a major part in their failure to qualify for the 1994 World Cup, the last time England didn’t feature at the tournament.

Since then, England and Norway have played four friendlies, the last of which came at Wembley in September 2014. Wayne Rooney scored the only goal from the penalty spot.

England vs Norway head-to-head record

Norway vs England: kickoff times, how to watch in the U.S.

In the 2026 World Cup quarterfinal, England play Norway today, Saturday, July 11, with kickoff at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami scheduled for 5:00 p.m. ET/2:00 p.m. PT.

Norway vs England will be available for U.S. viewers to watch on Fox Network, Telemundo, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo, Universo, Fox One and fubo. You can also follow live-text commentary of the game right here at AS USA.

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