How England broke Erling Haaland’s extraordinary 636-day streak in nailbiting quarter-final World Cup win

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Norway took England to extra-time in their World Cup quarter-final, despite Erling Haaland drawing a blank against the Three Lions.

Erling Haaland #9 of Norway reacts after the 1-2 loss during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Quarter Final match between Norway and England at Miami Stadium on July 11, 2026 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Buda Mendes/Getty Images)

Image credit: Getty Images

Haaland has been in scintillating form for his national team since 2024, netting 27 goals in 14 games before facing England.

Yet Thomas Tuchel’s side managed to stonewall the Norwegian, meaning that for the first time in 636 days, according to Opta, Haaland failed to score in a competitive international.

Ralf Rangnick’s Austria were the last national team to deny Haaland outside of friendlies, in a UEFA Nations League clash in October 2024.

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In a match billed as the battle of arguably the two best strikers in world football, VAR drama and Jude Bellingham’s brilliance stole the limelight from Haaland and Harry Kane - though it could have been a very different story.

Haaland’s incredible run kicked off with a Nations League strike against Slovenia, followed by a hat-trick against Kazakhstan. Neither of those are exactly European heavyweights, which was something of a theme in the early part of the Manchester City striker’s streak.

In his next 10 competitive games, Haaland racked up 15 goals against Moldova, Israel, Estonia and Iraq, plus four against the slightly sterner competition of Italy and Finland.

However, this summer he has proved that he is far from a flat-track bully by scoring five times im matches against Brazil, Senegal and Ivory Coast. Haaland hit the winning goal in all three games too, supercharging Norway’s run to the quarter-finals.

And when Martin Odegaard freed Alexander Sorloth for a two-on-one chance with Norway already leading 1-0 against England, it looked like Haaland’s streak was set to continue.

Yet the Atletico Madrid striker inexplicably kept hold of the ball until The Three Lions had the defensive cover to deflect his shot safely into Jordan Pickford’s arms, squandering Norway’s chance to double their lead.

Two minutes later, Bellingham fired England level and Tuchel’s side reduced Haaland to just a single shot on target in the second half - one that Pickford pushed wide.

Indeed, the 25-year-old was not even on the pitch to greet the final whistle, having been replaced by Jorgen Strand Larsen 15 minutes into extra-time.

In a gameplan potentially influenced by Haaland’s Manchester City team-mates in the England squad, Tuchel’s side broke Haaland’s 21-month streak by effectively limiting the service he received.

His two shots on goal were both from wide crosses into a penalty area teeming with white shirts, and his only other sight of goal was a reaction shot taken at waist-height that never had the power to beat Pickford.

However, this World Cup remains a very successful debut major tournament for Haaland.

After he was unable to fire Norway to either the 2022 World Cup or Euro 2024 - partly due to injury - the Leeds-born striker remains third in the scoring charts in North America ahead of the semi-finals and with a better goals-to-game ratio than leaders Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi.

Aged 25, Haaland will hope to have at least two more World Cups left and he gets the chance to rekindle his international competitive goalscoring streak before the end of September, when Norway play Denmark in the Nations League.

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