Norway v England: World Cup 2026 quarter-final – live

England make two changes to the team that started against Mexico. Ezri Konsa takes the troubled right-back spot off the suspended Jarell Quansah, making room for John Stones in the centre of defence. In attack, Noni Madueke starts on the right ahead of Bukayo Saka.

Norway make one change to their starting XI following the win over Brazil. Andreas Schjelderup, who set up both goals on Sunday, replaces Antonio Nusa, the only player in the Norway squad on a booking.

Norway: Nyland, Ryerson, Ajer, Heggem, Wolfe, Odegaard, Berge, Berg, Sorloth, Haaland, Schjelderup.
Subs: Tangvik, Selvik, Thorsby, Ostigard, Larsen, Aursnes, Bjorkan, Pedersen, Thorstvedt, Aasgaard, Bobb, Hauge, Langas, Falchener, Nusa.

England: Pickford, Konsa, Stones, Guehi, O’Reilly, Anderson, Rice, Madueke, Bellingham, Gordon, Kane.
Subs: Dean Henderson, Trafford, Rashford, Chalobah, Burn, Mainoo, Rogers, Watkins, Eze, Toney, James, Jordan Henderson, Saka, Spence.

Referee: Clement Turpin (France).

Pre-match postbag: the Taylor letters. “With you 100% about Graham Taylor. He seemed out of his depth at the time but I think history has shown that he did the best he could what he was given. Of the three years he was in charge, he was without Paul Gascoigne for a good half of that time, he lost John Barnes in the ‘94 qualifiers lost Barnes to injury in the 94 qualifiers, had a lot of the Italia 90 team retire – Bryan Robson, Peter Shilton, Terry Butcher – or on their way out- Gary Lineker, Chris Waddle etc. Any fans moaning about whatever may happen later tonight would do good to remember an England midfield once consisting of Andy Sinton, Carlton Palmer, Tony Daley and David Batty. RIP Graham” – Dave Estherby

“In 2012, I saw Graham Taylor at Oslo airport. As he was walking to his flight, dozens of England fans showed enormous, genuine affection for him, and he responded graciously and generously. A great man. His travelling companion, Alan Green, had been disturbing everyone in the business class lounge by reading his contract out loud line-by-line and moaning” – Andrew Goudie

Feeling stressed ahead of kick-off? Good! What would the point of any of this be, if you simply didn’t care? Just thank your lucky stars you’re not lining up in the tunnel, waiting, contemplating, anticipating, possibly hyperventilating. Some players deal with this sort of thing better than others. Look!

… and while we’re on the subject of photo galleries, this exercise in slit-scanning – a process which has a longer and more varied history in sports photography than you may imagine – is great fun as well.

You won’t need reminding that tonight’s game could go to extra time and penalty kicks. So if it indeed goes all the way, what on earth should Harry Kane do if he wins the toss? Mo Salah has the answer …

England have four players walking the disciplinary tightrope this evening. Jude Bellingham was booked against DR Congo, while Marc Guehi, Nico O’Reilly and Declan Rice were all cautioned against Mexico. A yellow card for any of them tonight, and they’ll miss the semi-final should England get through. Norway have only one player on a yellow in winger Antonio Nusa. (Yellow cards were wiped at the start of the knockouts, and will be again after the quarters.)

Some early England team news from David Hytner.

Thomas Tuchel is ready to play Ezri Konsa at right-back, with Reece James still not fully fit. John Stones is expected to come into central defence. On the right wing, it is set to be Noni Madueke rather than Bukayo Saka, who continues to struggle for 100 percent fitness.

Uefa have been throwing ersatz Super Bowl shapes at the Champions League final for a few years, and now Fifa are getting in on the act. Ellie Goulding, a big England fan, will perform a half-time show this evening. Not sure how long that’s scheduled to last. Factor in the hydration breaks and we could be here quite a while. “It’s a precursor to what will come at the final maybe,” deadpans David Hytner, upon breaking all of this news to me. “Getting everyone ready for the idea.”

England have got a pretty good goalscorer of their own, of course. Harry Kane saw the Three Lions through the group easily enough with two against Croatia and the clincher against Panama (and the less said about the other game the better) …

… then in the knockouts, that goal against the DR Congo and another at the Azteca. It’s been a campaign of fits and bursts really, but England are becoming masters of tournament football, and getting the job done. Another deep run is on.

Norway’s progress has been – this is not breaking news – all about Erling Haaland. Two goals against Iraq. Another brace against Senegal. A nice rest while the B team got some minutes against France.

Then in the knockouts, Haaland notched a late winner against Côte d’Ivoire, before sending Norwegian bunnies Brazil out of the competition in swashbuckling style. If Erling’s on one, all bets are off.

So how did we all get here? To tell the story properly, let’s go back to the beginning and reacquaint ourselves with both squads. In truth, not too much has changed since then … other than we’d need to crowbar in a bit about golf at the end of the England page. Oh Harry.

Some more on the conditions … courtesy of David Hytner, our man live from the coal face.

Tell you what Scott, it’s crazy hot inside the stadium. Myself, Barney Ronay and Ed Aarons have just set up in the press box, sat at our seats for five minutes and we’re all dripping in sweat. Imagine playing in this. The temperature at the moment is 33C. The real feel is 42C. According to Ed’s app, the humidity is 71pc.

Weather report. It’s currently 33C (91F) in Miami, and not expected to get any cooler come kick-off time. Once humidity is factored in, it’s likely to feel around 41C (106F). Phew, what a scorcher, etc. Will that give Norway an advantage? They played Brazil under 31C sun in New Jersey last weekend; the most extreme weather England have dealt with so far has been a 25C ramble under cloud, also in New Jersey, against Panama. So it’s a toss-up between experience and fatigue levels: you decide, and the truth will out. The conditions aren’t expected to exceed Fifa guidelines, so there’s no chance of the game being called off … but there could be a weather delay should lightning strike within eight miles of Miami Stadium, in which case it’s a 30-minute postponement, the countdown clock reset every time there’s more electrical activity. But for now, fingers crossed for 5pm local time/10pm BST/7am AEST … and stay hydrated all y’all.

England won their first five games against Norway, between 1937 and 1980, to the cumulative score of 24-2. No wonder, then, that the commentator Bjørge Lillelien went off on one like he did when Norway eventually chalked up their first victory against the Three Lions in September 1981. And if you haven’t yet read Lars Sivertsen’s entertaining account of that famous rant, right that wrong immediately!

It’s been a lot closer between the two nations since then. In six subsequent meetings, England are two wins to one up with three draws, but it’s Norway’s sole victory that lingers longest in the memory: Oslo 1993, and a 2-0 World Cup qualifying win that marked the beginning of the end for poor old Graham Taylor. The famous yelps of “Do I not like that!” and “Can we not knock it?!” came earlier in that ill-fated campaign against Poland, but Phil Neal stole the show in Oslo with his spot-on impersonation of a lyrebird, while Taylor himself delivered a couple of off-screen “aw fucking hell”s that were a masterclass in comic timing and bathos. He was a good man, Graham; time’s been kind.

It’s been a quotable feast through the years, so here’s to some more freestyle effin’ and jeffin’ tonight. All of the ingredients are ripe for choice comment: Erling Haaland and Harry Kane are scoring goals for fun; Arsenal’s title-winning generals, Declan Rice and Martin Ødegaard, will face off in midfield; and it’s going to be real hot in Miami. Both of these teams harbour genuine hopes of going all the way in this tournament, so here’s to a (no-doubt-fraught) classic. Good luck everyone, may the best team hand out one hell of a beating. Kick-off is at 5pm local time/10pm BST/7am AEST. It’s on! Can you hear me?!? It’s on!!!!!