England defender Dan Burn relishes the physical battle with Erling Haaland, who he could face on Saturday in Miami in the World Cup quarter-final06:55, 09 Jul 2026Dan Burn hopes he can be England's lucky charm against Erling Haaland. The towering Newcastle defender, who is two inches taller (6ft' 7") than the Norwegian powerhouse (6ft' 5"), certainly knows how to keep the prolific Manchester City goalscoring powerhouse quiet.‌Haaland has struck just once in 10 appearances against the Magpies and while Burn is unlikely to start against Norway, he undoubtedly has a clear idea of how to frustrate the 25-year-old assassin.‌Burn said when quizzed on his favourable record against Haaland:" Yeah, I don't want to jinx it. Yeah, one goal.‌"I do enjoy playing against Erling, purely just from a physical point of view. I quite like that sort of physical battle and I get on well with him on the pitch. We do get on quite well, although you'd have to ask him if he thinks the same thing."But yeah, if I'm asked to do that, I'd be more than ready and more than happy to do that. But obviously I also know that we've got four other centre-halves who are also top quality players and have played this whole tournament because of that too."The 34-year-old centre-back is still revelling in the ecstasy of Sunday's historic triumph over co-hosts Mexico at the Azteca Stadium.‌Burn made a whopping eight defensive contributions, including two headed clearances that incredibly reached the halfway line.In his mind, he was simply doing his job despite the enormity of the occasion.‌He continued when asked if he had the chance to soak it all in: "Yeah, a little bit, but I think because everything was happening so quickly and the way the game was going."It's one of them where I know I've been brought for certain scenarios and I could see already what was coming and sort of just preparing yourself to come on. And I think it's different when you're 34 and have played over 500 games. So it's really just the same game, just a different level."Do you know what I mean? So I wasn't nervous coming on. I knew what I was coming on to do and just wanted to get on and help the lads."‌For him, only one game trumps last weekend and that was ending Newcastle's 70-year trophy drought.He added when asked if the win over Mexico can be topped: "Yeah, it's got me top two. I've said that between that and the Cup final at Newcastle. I think it's hard because obviously I'm a Geordie and it was so long since we won something. So that was such a huge thing for Newcastle.‌"But as I said, it was hard to even have this dream when I was a kid."So it's just something that maybe the last year and a half, it's something that I've always wanted to do. It's nice to say no one could take that away from us now. I've played at the World Cup, so it's special, but I want more. I'd love to do it all."• Get the latest World Cup news straight to your inbox by signing up to our Make Football Great Again newsletter now!Article continues belowJoin our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.