England Survive Norway Scare as Stones Delivers When It Matters Most
England are through to the World Cup semi-finals after a nervy extra-time win over Norway in Miami, with their much-criticised defence ultimately doing enough to keep Erling Haaland at bay. According to The Guardian, it was far from comfortable — but John Stones and Marc Guéhi produced performances that may well define England’s tournament.
Haaland, as expected, was a constant presence and threat. He landed two headers on Jordan Pickford’s goal and was involved in a physically demanding contest with both centre-backs throughout. Yet the statistics told a revealing story: the Norway striker managed just 21 touches and a pass completion rate of 38% before being replaced by Jørgen Strand Larsen after the first period of extra time. Stones made six headed clearances — crucial given Norway’s danger from set pieces — and was credited with eight defensive contributions in total.
It is worth noting that this was Stones’s first start since England’s victory over Croatia in Dallas, having come into the tournament short of match practice. He is no longer at Manchester City and made only nine league appearances last season, meaning his place in the side had looked far from certain. Here, though, he rose to the occasion alongside Guéhi, who went shoulder to shoulder with Haaland on multiple occasions without being dribbled past.
The match was not without its anxious moments. Tuchel made what The Guardian described as a rare misstep at half-time when the unwell Declan Rice went off, effectively handing Norway’s Martin Ødegaard space to dictate play. Reece James was brought on for Anthony Gordon to shore things up, sacrificing one of England’s key counterattacking threats. It was only when Morgan Rogers’s counterpressing was added to the midfield that England found a semblance of order.
Pickford’s performance drew scrutiny too, with the goalkeeper considered at fault for Andreas Schjelderup’s goal — a cross-shot that gave Norway the lead and triggered a nervy spell during which Alexander Sørloth passed up a chance to double the advantage. John Stones’s clever positioning to narrow the angles as Sørloth hesitated was cited as a pivotal moment.
Norway hit the bar and had a goal disallowed, and they will feel aggrieved to have missed out on a first World Cup semi-final. But England, for all their imperfections, found a way through.
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