If your team is trailing and you need a goal at any cost, who do you turn to? Alongside Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe, two more names come to mind: Harry Kane and Erling Haaland. And tonight’s England-Norway match sets the two finest strikers of the moment against each other.
On their World Cup form so far, it is hard to separate them. Haaland has scored seven goals and Kane six – though Haaland has played one match fewer, having been rested against France in Norway’s last group game after qualification was secured. That gives Haaland the better rate, at 1.8 goals per 90 minutes to Kane’s 1.2. There is a difference elsewhere: Kane has scored two of his goals from penalties, Haaland none, and while Haaland’s second goal against Brazil came from outside the box, Kane has not scored from outside the area at all.
Both have kept scoring season after season at club level. Kane, 32, is in a golden spell, with 73 goals this season for club and country – a tally bettered in a single season only by Lionel Messi in 2011-12 (82). Haaland is a little behind, with 58 for Manchester City and Norway this season. Some might argue Kane is the more complete footballer: both are No. 9s, but where Haaland lurks around the box like a seasoned hunter, Kane can often be seen defending even in his own box. At this World Cup Kane has one assist to Haaland’s none, yet Haaland has created six goalscoring chances for teammates – two more than Kane. Over the past three seasons, Kane has 26 assists for Bayern Munich, with Haaland not far behind on 24.
Kane, England’s all-time leading scorer, has also set England’s record for most World Cup goals, with 14 across three tournaments, while this is Haaland’s first World Cup. But Haaland’s record for his country is almost unbelievable – 62 goals in 54 matches, or a goal every 71 minutes for Norway, well ahead of Kane, Messi and Mbappe. The two have never faced each other for their countries, but they have in club football: while Kane was at Tottenham, he met Haaland’s City twice. In their first meeting, in 2023, Haaland scored against Spurs at the Etihad, but Kane had the last laugh in the next, scoring the winner for Tottenham. Who will be smiling tonight?
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report