Marc Guehi knows Erling Haaland better than most. The England and Manchester City defender has faced the Norwegian striker four times in his career and conceded seven goals. Now he must find a way to stop him on the biggest stage of all: Saturday’s World Cup quarter-final in Miami.
“I know he’ll be up for it,” Guehi said. “It’ll be a challenge, but it’s good to see some familiar faces and try and do our best and try and get a win. It’s going to be fun, it will be fun.”
“Guehi admits Haaland is unstoppable ahead of quarter-final after seven goals against him.”
England arrive in Florida buoyed by a gutsy 3-2 victory at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico – a result that has been described as potentially transformative for the Three Lions. But any belief gained from that night could evaporate if Haaland continues his devastating form. The Manchester City powerhouse has scored seven goals in the tournament, including a double against Brazil in the last 16 that dumped out the five-time winners.
Haaland has scored against every England centre-half he has faced, and his record against Guehi is particularly damning: seven goals in four games. “He destroyed Brazil,” Guehi said. “He’s got dreams of winning the World Cup Golden Boot and is the main reason why Norway are still on the march.”
Guehi only joined City from Crystal Palace in January and spent 125 days as Haaland’s teammate before heading to World Cup duty. Yet familiarity offers no guarantee of solving the puzzle. “Trust,” Guehi said of England’s togetherness. “We already had it before but trust even more. We spoke about stuff coming into it. I think everybody having that bond and that trust for one another and hopefully we can keep building that up. Let’s kick on.”
Other England defenders have fared slightly better. Ezri Konsa has faced Haaland five times and conceded just once, winning three of those games. Dan Burn has faced him six times with only one goal conceded. Trevoh Chalobah has faced him five times, conceded twice and never beaten him.
The consensus among the squad is that the only way to stop Haaland is to starve him of service, possession and space – to force him into deeper areas where his chances are limited. But as Guehi knows from bitter experience, that is easier said than done.
“He’ll be a man on a mission,” Guehi admitted. England will have to be ready.