Point number one on Thomas Tuchel's gameplan for the World Cup quarter-finals will be: find a way to stop Erling Haaland.
The Norway striker is level with Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe at the top of the goalscoring charts for the tournament so far, netting seven times in just four games.
Haaland's brace against Brazil saw him get the better of Gabriel and Marquinhos, reputedly two of the best centre-backs this tournament had to offer.
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So what are the chances England can succeed where no other team has at this World Cup and keep Haaland from finding the net?
To get an idea, we went back through Transfermarkt's data on Haaland's record against different individual opponents to see how Tuchel's centre-back options have fared in the past.
Case in point: Marquinhos and Gabriel had previously conceded a combined nine goals in ten appearances against Haaland between them, so perhaps it wasn't surprising he found a way to breach the Brazil back line.
Marc Guehi goes further back with Haaland than you might realise: they played against each other at international youth level, with England U16s and U17s getting the better of their Norwegian counterparts both times without Haaland scoring.
However, Guehi has not enjoyed a great record against Haaland since then. The Norwegian got a hat-trick for Manchester City against Crystal Palace in their first club meeting in 2022, and has added a further four goals in as many appearances since then.
That gives Haaland an overall record of seven goals in seven games against Guehi. But the only clean sheet the centre-back has kept against a man he now calls his teammate was a big one: Palace's 1-0 victory over City in the 2025 FA Cup final.
More encouraging news...Haaland has gone toe-to-toe with Ezri Konsa five times, all of them in Premier League meetings between Manchester City and Aston Villa.
Interestingly, Haaland has scored just once, which case the first time they met back in 2022 - and City have lost all of the past three meetings with Haaland and Konsa both on the pitch.
Opponent | Played | Haaland scored | W | D | L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Marc Guehi | 7 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
Ezri Konsa | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
Dan Burn | 8 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 0 |
John Stones | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Trevoh Chalobah | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
Dan Burn also has a strong individual record against Haaland, who was scored just once in meeting between Newcastle and City in which both players have shared time on the pitch; as with Konsa, that goal was in their first meeting, back in 2022.
Big asterisk though: Haaland's record against Burn at club level stands at 6 wins, 2 draws, and 0 defeats.
Haaland has played against John Stones as well, when Haaland was at Borussia Dortmund. The striker drew a blank then, too, with City winning both games 2-1 in the Champions League quarter-finals in 2021.
And while we're here, might as well: Haaland has scored just twice in games where he was up against Trevoh Chalobah.
