Harry Kane called Erling Haaland a “beast.” Crypto traders, apparently, agreed. The upcoming England-Norway quarterfinal at the 2026 FIFA World Cup has turned into more than just a football spectacle. It’s become a full-blown trading catalyst across fan tokens, meme coins, and prediction markets.
The match is scheduled for July 11 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, and the collision of two elite strikers has sparked a wave of speculative activity in crypto-native corners of the market. For Norway, this is their first World Cup quarterfinal since 1998.
Kraken’s courtside seat and the Sorare connection
Kraken is FIFA’s first-ever crypto exchange partner for the 2026 World Cup, which means the exchange gets prime brand placement during the most-watched sporting event on the planet.
Then there’s Sorare, the fantasy football platform built on blockchain. Sorare has seen impressive trading activity around both Kane and Haaland. A Sorare NFT card of Haaland sold for 265.1 ETH back in 2022, roughly $684,000 at the time. That remains one of the platform’s record sales. As both players prepare to carry their teams into the semifinals, trading volume on their digital cards has picked up again, riding the wave of tournament attention.
