Saka ready to lead England against Haaland in World Cup quarter-final
The minutes have been rationed, the body carefully managed, but Bukayo Saka sounds like a man who has run out of patience with caution.
“I would have loved to have come to the tournament at 100% but that wasn't the case,” the England winger admitted, reflecting on his gradual return to full tilt. “Everyone has realised that and has managed me in the best way possible, but right now I'm feeling great and ready to go.”
England face Norway in the World Cup quarter-final on Saturday night in Kansas City, a tie that feels familiar and strange all at once. Familiar, because so many of Norway’s stars live their club lives in the Premier League. Strange, because Norway simply do not do this. They had not been at a World Cup since 1998, had never gone this deep. Yet here they are, in the last eight after taking down Ivory Coast and Brazil, with Erling Haaland grinning into microphones and shovelling the pressure firmly across the halfway line.
“Yes, definitely,” the Manchester City striker said when asked if the burden sits with England. “I think there's some clear favourites out there, England's one of them. I think all of you should put every single bit of pressure on the English lads.”
He said it with a smile. He meant every word.
England’s belief, rebuilt in the fire
Inside the England camp, the tone is different. Not cocky. Not timid either. Hardened.
The Mexico game did that. A draining, emotional night that almost came apart before it came alive, and one that Saka believes changed the way people back home see this team.
“For us, we believed and we believed from the start,” he said. “The belief was more for the people back home and them seeing us go through that adversity and see us come out on top was important for all of us.
“How players that haven't been playing came on and the players that have been produced some big moments again. Everyone had their contribution and it was just an amazing night for us as a camp.
“Our spirits are high and we need to take it into the next game.”
Saka talks about mindset the way some talk about tactics. Calmly, but with an edge.
“Each game has been unique for me but my mindset doesn't really change much – I come on, whether I start or not, and I try and do what the game needs. It's about winning and that's my mindset.”
That line could have come from any era of England football. The difference now is that the squad around him looks built to live it. Players step in cold and still hit the level. Roles change, the standard doesn’t.
“We soaked it in – now it’s gone”
The danger, of course, is that Mexico lingers. You don’t turn a night like that into just another data point. It stays on the skin.
Saka knows it, and so do the staff.
“We discussed that we need to put the drama and the emotions of the Mexico game behind us now,” he said. “We soaked in all of the praise and everything that came with it but now we need to focus on Norway which is going to be a tough challenge.
“We're fully focused and buzzing that we're winning.
“Norway are a very good team – they play with confidence and a directness and that's been working for them so far.”
Directness. Confidence. And at the tip of it all, Haaland.
Haaland the storm, England the shield
Inside the England squad, few know the scale of the threat better than Nico O’Reilly. He sees Haaland up close at Manchester City. He has watched the runs, the timing, the way a game can be quiet for 70 minutes and then ripped apart in seven seconds.
“Erling is Erling,” O’Reilly said. “We all know what he is like. He can score goals, he is dangerous in the box and he is a real threat.”
Haaland has underlined that across this tournament, scoring in every game he has played in. His presence alone bends defensive lines and game plans. Yet O’Reilly insists England cannot afford to revolve around one man.
“I guess it takes a toll in it but I think keeping Erling quiet gives us a real chance to win the game,” he said. “Given all the threat he can cause, unbelievable striker, world-class. He showed that throughout the tournament, scoring in every game he has played in. We are mainly focusing on ourselves and focusing on our game rather than his.”
That last sentence is the crux. Respect the danger. Don’t become obsessed with it.
Haaland, for his part, seems to be revelling in the chaos of Norway’s run. “To be in the quarter-finals with Norway in the World Cup is quite surprising even for me,” he admitted. Beating Brazil, then staring at England in a World Cup quarter-final in the USA, is not a normal Norwegian storyline.
“If you watch the scenes back in Norway, this is not normal for Norway to be, so it's super special,” he said. He called playing Brazil “kind of crazy” and described the need to treat these games like training sessions just to keep the nerves in check.
He is enjoying this. He has nothing to lose. That makes him even more dangerous.
A nation between certainty and nerves
Back home, the mood is split between those who see a clear path and those who see a banana skin wearing a No 9 shirt.
Freddy, an England fan from South London, sees opportunity, not threat. “I don’t see England losing tomorrow,” he said on BBC Radio 5 Live. “In terms of a team that we could have played, a quarter-final against Norway is a team that we will know a lot about. We know a lot about their players.
“This will be our best opportunity to get through to a semi-final. It will be like playing a really high-quality Premier League game. England players will be comfortable playing this game. There will be a predictability about Norway that England will be ready for. England could not have been paired with a better team at this stage.”
From Leeds, Monica, a Norway fan, hears all that and shrugs. For her, the equation is simple: if Haaland burns hot, anything can happen.
“In some of the goals he has scored in the tournament, he’s almost at walking pace, doesn’t look like he’s interested in the game, then takes one or two big strides and big jump and brings it into the back of the net in a big way,” she said. “If Norway is going to have a chance, we of course rely on Haaland being on really good form.”
Then there’s Bradley, an England fan living in Oslo, caught between both worlds. “A few days ago, I felt very confident,” he admitted, “but some little nerves are kicking in now with all the injuries and illnesses.”
Confidence. Doubt. Expectation. It’s the familiar cocktail of an England knockout game.
The weight of history, the lightness of Norway
England have reached at least the quarter-finals in the past three men’s World Cups. The last step, the last eight, no longer feels like a ceiling. The problem is what comes after. They have not been in a World Cup final since 1966. Every deep run now carries that history like an extra shirt.
Norway carry none of that. They are new here. Free. Haaland even joked that England fans “should be confident of progressing, definitely. It's England.” The implication hung in the air: favourites, pressure, expectation – and a history of falling short when it matters most.
That is the duel before a ball is kicked. England’s experience and depth against Norway’s momentum and their one-man wrecking ball. The team that expects to be here against the team that can’t quite believe it.
Saka says his minutes have been “building and building”. His confidence has too. The same goes for O’Reilly and a core of players who talk less about fear and more about responsibility.
They know the stakes. They know the narrative waiting to be written on either side.
On Saturday night in Kansas City, one of two stories continues: the slow, stubborn march of an England side trying to finally live up to its billing, or the wild, improbable charge of Norway and the striker who keeps tearing up their script and writing a new one.
