Gary Neville said England will be favourites against Norway but urged caution over Erling Haaland's potential impact despite the euphoria after their victory over Mexico in the World Cup last 16.
England progressed to the quarter-finals thanks to a historic 3-2 win at Mexico's Azteca stadium on Monday morning. A double from Jude Bellingham and a spot-kick from Harry Kane, despite being down to 10 men, came hours after Norway produced history of their own in a win over five-time champions Brazil.
Erling Haaland scored two to help his nation secure a first World Cup quarter-final. That took him to seven goals at the World Cup so far, joint top of the goalscoring charts with Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe.
Former England full-back Neville says that despite a momentous win for Thomas Tuchel's Three Lions, there are areas that need to be improved, with Haaland on the horizon.
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"It's tough to stop Haaland, because he can be anonymous in matches; he doesn't touch the ball a lot but you know that he's explosive," Neville told Sky Sports News .
"He was devastating against Brazil; those two goals were absolutely brilliant - classic Haaland. The first one, just moving in front of Gabriel with a brilliant header, and the second one is just pure, just touch and a powerful hit that you know beats one of the best goalkeepers in the world.
"Difficult to stop him for 90 minutes, or if it's extra-time as well, 120 minutes, but we should be favourites. I don't think that's us getting carried away. We should be favourites to beat Norway but it's going to be tough.
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"It's going to be really tough on Saturday, and it would have been tough, obviously, playing Brazil. You're in a World Cup quarter-final.
"They've got some good players. The manager was really brave for Norway at half-time, changing the two wide players; I thought it had a big impact on the game.
"Norway have got some firepower. They've got a front four - whoever they play up there but Haaland, obviously right at the point of it - that are dangerous and England are going to have to be on the guard, so more like we saw in the first half last night, and obviously towards the end, where England were really compact, aggressive, quite determined.
"Just get rid of those one or two little bugs we had, obviously. They went a little bit deep for the Raul Jimenez header, where Jordan Pickford made a great save.
"You can't drop back onto your goalkeeper with Haaland. And then set-pieces, you've just got to make sure you're getting that first contact.
"It's a classic sort of thing. If you concede from set-pieces, it will undermine your performances.
"If we can get rid of those one or two little bugs that we had last night in that first half, we were near on perfect defensively.
"A brilliant game to look forward to in Miami on Saturday but it's going to be tough. England should just edge it but it's dangerous."
Neville was also full of praise for Bellingham's individual display at the Azteca, where he became the first player to score twice in Mexico's hallowed ground at a World Cup since Diego Maradona against England in 1986.
Prior to the tournament, Neville suggested England's only world-class player was Harry Kane, but following his dynamite efforts against Mexico, the former Manchester United defender has changed his mind.
"Going into this tournament, my personal words were that I didn't think it was a question between Jude Bellingham and Morgan Rogers," Neville said.
"Rogers is a great player but Bellingham has to play, and I did say that the only world-class player in the squad was Harry Kane, with Declan Rice and Bellingham edging towards that.
"In this tournament, Bellingham's absolutely smashed through that ceiling. What we saw against Mexico was a complete performance. It was absolutely incredible, and we've seen that over the last few weeks.
"From the very first game in that tunnel against Croatia, I saw Elliot Anderson looking fierce before the game; Bellingham looked like he was enjoying it.
"He looked completely and utterly free and has carried England. These last five matches, he's been unbelievable, along with Harry Kane, but Bellingham has been on another level. I can't speak highly enough of him."
Neville added that though he has been underwhelmed by some of England's performances, the win over Mexico has made him feel a sense of pride after key changes.
"The game had absolutely everything that you would want in a football match," he told Sky Sports News.
"It was going into the lion's den, conditions difficult, delayed kick-off, penalties, sendings off, everything that you would want in a brilliant football match happened and England were absolutely magnificent.
"I couldn't be more proud. I've been quite underwhelmed at times and been nervous, particularly around our defensive shape and our vulnerability defensively, but a couple of things.
"One, I thought the first half last night, our shape was fantastic. The wide players connected a lot more with the rest of their defensive unit and we were really compact.
"Kane and Bellingham were a little bit tighter as well to Rice and Anderson. The back four looked more solid and I felt really comfortable in the first half.
"They had a lot of possession and they had a lot of what would be, not domination but they had a lot of the ball in the last third of our pitch, and I felt as though we were controlling the game, but without possession, and I felt quite comfortable watching us, and I was complimentary.
"At half-time we conceded the goal from a set-piece, which was disappointing, but I was really comfortable with that first half, and then the second half it goes a bit more punch for punch, which you know in football, you've got to be able to do both things.
"You've got to be able to manage games without possession; you've got to be able to dominate with possession.
"We've also got to be able to go punch for punch and just dig in there and show grit and determination, fight, and I have to say every single one of them out on that pitch last night did that, and then above and beyond that."
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Sources: Sky Sports
