How England shackled Erling Haaland for 106 minutes

Erling Haaland's dream of firing Norway to a historic World Cup semi-final spot met its end against England, fittingly, the country where he plies his club trade, as the Three Lions won 2-1 to send the Vikings home.

As reported by Pulse Sports Nigeria, Jude Bellingham stole the show from his former teammate at Borussia Dortmund, netting both goals as England overcame a scare to seal their ticket to the last four.

It was a night to forget for the Manchester City talisman. During his time on the pitch, Haaland managed just 21 touches, attempted 13 passes and completed only five of them.

He also mustered just one shot on target from two attempts across 106 minutes, and was limited to just five touches inside the England box all night.

Even in the moments Norway did carve out danger, Haaland couldn't find a way through.

OptaJoe summed up the frustration of his evening after team-mate Alexander Sorloth failed to pick him out during a promising 2-v-1 situation with the scoreline still level at 1-1.

The numbers behind his drought tell their own story. 'England are the first team to keep Erling Haaland from scoring in a competitive international match since Austria on 13th October 2024 (636 days ago),' OptaJoe noted.

Despite the heartbreak against the Three Lions, Haaland can still be proud of his World Cup debut.

He exits the tournament with an outstanding seven goals to his name for the Vikings, a record that, on this night at least, simply wasn't enough.