Just three games are between England and winning the World Cup for the first time in 60 years.
Tonight, Thomas Tuchel’s side are in Miami as they take on Norway for a spot in the semi-finals.
The Three Lions will be buoyed by Monday’s impressive victory against Mexico when they held on with 10 men to beat the co-hosts 3-2 at the Azteca, but tonight also presents a tough test as they come up against a Norway side spearheaded by Erling Haaland.
England are without defender Jarrel Quansah, who is seeing out a two-match ban after being sent off in Mexico. Defender Marc Guehi has been suffering with a hamstring issue, while midfielder Declan Rice has had a sickness bug and Reece James has only just returned to training.
With Quansah ruled out and James not deemed fit enough to start, Thomas Tuchel has opted to shift Ezri Konsa to right-back with John Stones slotting in alongside Guehi for an all-Manchester City centre-back pairing to combat clubmate Haaland.
Noni Madueke replaces his Arsenal teammate Bukayo Saka on the right-wing, with England otherwise unchanged from the side who beat Mexico.
Should England overcome Norway then victory sets up a semi-final tie against Argentina, as long as they beat Switzerland in their quarter-final in the early hours of Sunday morning. Either France or Spain would then await in the final should England make it that far.
Follow The i Paper’s live blog for the latest updates below.
This England team has something I’ve never seen before
The dartboard is still there, players taking it in turns to take down Peter Crouch with bonhomie or even a well-placed arrow.
The content boom that became such a crowd-pleaser during Gareth Southgate’s great English makeover is an easy icebreaker for media sessions, lightening the mood and loosening tongues.
The return to Kansas City post-Mexico was supposed to be about decompressing before rising again in Miami, where Norway await in Saturday’s quarter-final.
While there has been some of that, Morgan Rogers explaining the benefits of England’s home from home in the American Midwest to a Norwegian journalist tasked with a dispatch from inside the enemy camp, there is also a low thrum of electricity crackling about the squad, a sense that some cosmic force is driving England towards the ultimate finale.
As an observer of the Southgate years, you never quite got the feeling the team believed the message. Southgate’s instinct for inclusion built genuine bonds but never quite the commensurate belief that all champions exude.
If Thomas Tuchel has achieved one step with this team it is in shedding the imposter syndrome that ultimately stalled Southgate’s vehicle, the feeling that against the very best there was something deficient in the English character that condemned them to fail.
Read more here
BBC or ITV? There’s only one winner at this World Cup
“You know we’re in Salford, right?” joked Micah Richards as Joe Hart was eulogising about the “unbelievable energy” of the Azteca Stadium before England’s epic win over co-hosts Mexico.
Richards got a round of laughter in the studio, but the loveable pundit touched on one of the lively debates around this World Cup. Should the BBC be broadcasting from a futuristic studio thousands of miles away from the action? Does it affect the coverage? Do the viewers care? Or is it just one of those weird media obsessions?
Comparison is the thief of joy, as the famous saying goes, but here comparison is stealing the admiration that the BBC might have received for their state-of-the-art studio. The technology is impressive and it will be used by BBC Sport for years to come. The problem is, ITV’s backdrop has blown them out of the water.
Read more from former BBC presenter Dan Walker here
Pickford becomes England’s most-capped World Cup player
Reporting from Hard Rock Stadium
A word for Jordan Pickford, before we inevitably curse him. In starting this evening, Pickford surpasses Peter Shilton to become the player with the most World Cup appearances for England.
Often doubted, never doubting. Pickford has repeatedly stepped up when England have needed him. He and Kane are the two seams that run throughout the last eight years.
Streets of Oslo packed
Reporting from Hard Rock Stadium
Have heard from a Norwegian mate who says that the streets of Oslo are packed full already. The 9pm news was a single-issue edition focusing only on the World Cup. The top seven songs in the Norwegian singles charts are all football-related.
Let’s break some hearts tonight.
Team news – Stones and Madueke start
The England line-up is in and it confirms the earlier leaked team, with John Stones and Noni Madueke starting.
That means Ezri Konsa shifts to right back to fill in for the suspended Jarrell Quansah.
England: Pickford, Konsa, Guehi, Stones, O’Reilly, Anderson, Rice, Madueke, Gordon, Bellingham, Kane.
Your #ThreeLions to play Norway!
— England (@England) July 11, 2026pic.twitter.com/bQSf5mtbWO
Martin Odegaard and Erling Haaland both start for Norway.
Norway: Nyland, Ajer, Moller Wolfe, Heggem, Berg, Berge, Odegaard, Schjelderup, Sorloth, Ryerson, Haaland.
Jarell Quansah is a sacrificial lamb to Fifa’s twisted incompetence
It was half a smart play by Fifa. Revisit the case, adjust the tariff, double down. You might say Jarell Quansah paid the price for Fifa’s egregious (mis)management of the Folarin Balogun case.
Balogun, you may remember, was sent off for serious foul play, handed a two-match ban and was going fishing before Donald Trump picked up the phone to his valet, Fifa president Gianni Infantino, to protest injustice.
The exact process that led from the Trump call to Balogun’s reprieve is buried in mystery, protected by a regulation that allows Fifa’s disciplinary committee to revisit cases without explanation or account.
However, by upgrading Quansah’s red card offence to serious foul play and doubling his ban from one to two matches Fifa’s shadowy order could plausibly claim equivalence of process, namely that they went back over the evidence in the same way to ensure the “correct” outcome was reached and appropriate sanction applied.
Read more here from Kevin Garside, on Fifa’s decision and how England might cope
Why I fear for England against Norway
If there was some doubt as to whether England were favourites in Mexico City, they cannot ignore or avoid that tag in Miami. The draw has opened up for England in a way that would make even Gareth Southgate blush: DR Congo, Mexico and Norway for a place in a World Cup semi-final. None of those are currently ranked in the top 18 in the world.
Yet if Mexico was a test of England’s steel and ability to cope in adversity and atmospheric pressure, Norway is a step up in quality. Like England, there is a sense of incremental improvement as they move through the knockout rounds.
From Erling Haaland’s prowess to Martin Odegaard in the middle, we analyse six reasons for Norway to be confident of causing a second upset on the spin.
Stones and Madueke set to start
Reporting from Hard Rock Stadium
The England team has been leaked, much to the chagrin of many supporters. There will be two changes and a positional shift.
The biggest news is that Bukayo Saka is not considered fit enough to play 90 minutes and so will start on the bench with Noni Madueke given the nod – Saka will play the role of finisher again.
Meanwhile, Reece James may have trained but he’s still not available; bit of a farce that one. This time it’s Ezri Konsa, who becomes England’s fourth different starting right-back in the tournament.
That means Thomas Tuchel needed another central defender. He has gone for Manchester City pairing over the aerial ability of Dan Burn, so it’s John Stones and Marc Guehi.
Is that right side a worry?
Four England players need to be careful tonight
There are four Three Lions players who must be on their best behaviour to avoid being suspended if England progress.
Jude Bellingham, Marc Guehi, Nico O’Reilly and Declan Rice could all join Jarrell Quansah in being ruled out for disciplinary reasons.
Bellingham was booked in the last-32 victory over DR Congo, while the rest were booked against Mexico.
If players receive two yellow cards across the last 32, last 16 and quarter-final matches, they will be suspended.
Norway have never beaten a European nation at the World Cup
Reporting from the United States
A strange quirk of Norway’s World Cup record is that they have never beaten a European nation at the finals. That’s continued in 2026 with them beating Iraq, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire – and of course Brazil – but being brushed aside 4-1 by France. England are their most familiar opponents yet – nine of this Norway squad play in either the Premier League or Championship.
Asides from the obvious in Erling Haaland (Man City) and Martin Odegaard (Arsenal), there is Jorgen Strand Larsen (Crystal Palace), Kristoffer Ajer (Brentford), David Moller Wolfe (Wolves), Sander Berge and Oscar Bobb (Fulham), Egil Selvik (Watford), and Sondre Langas (Derby).
Good evening
Have you recovered from the drama of England’s win against Mexico yet?
It’s time for the quarter-finals as the Three Lions face Norway for a spot in the final four.
The Scandinavian side boast Manchester City’s Erling Haaland amongst their ranks, who has already netted seven times at this World Cup.
Thomas Tuchel’s men’s defensive worries continue as Jarrel Quansah is suspended, but there is hope that the injured Marc Guehi may be available after taking part in training before the match. Declan Rice was also in training despite worries about illness.
We will bring you live updates on tonight’s match and insight from our reporters at the ground as the evening unfolds. Kick-off is at 10pm UK time.
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